Abnormal cerebral MRI findings and neuroimpairments in very low birth weight (VLBW) adolescents.

Background: High prevalence of abnormal cerebral MRI findings as well as major and minor motor, perceptual and cognitive impairments has been reported in very low birth weight (VLBW) children.

Aim: To investigate whether cerebral MRI pathology relates to different types of neuroimpairments in adolescents with VLBW.

Methods: At age 15, 55 adolescents with birth weight < or = 1500 g (VLBW) were examined. Motor function was evaluated by Movement Assessment Battery for Children (ABC) and the Grooved Pegboard (GP) test, cognitive function by Wechsler Intelligence Scales, and visuo-motor and visual perceptual function by The Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) with the supplementary tests of Visual Perception (VP), and Motor Coordination (MC). Executive functions were assessed by Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) and the Stroop test. Cerebral MRI was assessed semi-quantitatively for ventricular, white and grey matter pathology.

Results: There was a rather weak relationship between MRI pathology and neuroimpairments. Poor performance on the WCST was related with ventricular dilatation (VD), white matter reduction and corpus callosum thinning. There was a correlation between results on the VMI test and the Movement ABC test and MRI pathology, but the correlation became much weaker when children with cerebral palsy were excluded. There was no relationship between MRI findings and estimated intelligence quotient (IQ) scores. Normal MRI predicted normal or near normal neuropsychological functioning.

Conclusion: Cerebral MRI pathology suggestive of perinatal white matter injury was related to disadvantages in performances on executive functions, to a lesser degree to motor and visual perceptual problems, but not to cognitive impairments in VLBW adolescents.