Corpus callosum size and very preterm birth: relationship to neuropsychological outcome.

Thinning of the corpus callosum (CC) is often observed in individuals who were born very preterm. Damage to the CC during neurodevelopment may be associated with poor neuropsychological performance. This study aimed to explore any evidence of CC pathology in adolescents aged 14-15 years who were born very preterm, and to investigate the relationship between CC areas and verbal skills.

Effects of very low birthweight on brain structure in adulthood.

Very-low-birthweight (VLBW) individuals are at high risk of brain injury in the perinatal period. We wished to determine how such early brain lesions affect brain structure in adulthood. Thirty-two VLBW adults (20 female, 12 male) and 18 term, normal birthweight sibling control individuals (nine female, nine male) underwent structural MRI at a mean age of 23 years 4 months (range 17 to 33 years; SD 3.

Predictors of long-term outcome in very preterm infants: gestational age versus neonatal cranial ultrasound.

Objectives: To investigate the effect of gestational age at birth on the frequency of ultrasound-detected brain lesions in infants born at <33 weeks of gestation and to investigate whether the relationship between neonatal cranial ultrasound diagnosis and neurodevelopmental outcome at 8 years of age was independent of gestational age.

Methods: Eight hundred forty-seven infants born at <33 weeks of gestation, admitted to a single tertiary referral center between 1983 and 1988, underwent serial neonatal cranial ultrasound. At 8 years of age neurodevelopmental outcome was assessed by structured neurologic examination, psychometric tests (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children), tests of visuomotor integration (Beery) and motor impairment (Henderson-Stott).

Adolescents who were born very preterm have decreased brain volumes.

Infants born very preterm have an increased risk of brain injury. Given the great increase in the number of such infants that are surviving, it is important to establish whether any resultant brain abnormalities persist into adolescence and adult life. We therefore examined in vivo whole brain, grey matter, white matter and hippocampal volumes, ventricular size and grey/white matter ratios in a series of adolescents who had been born very preterm, and an age-matched full-term control group.