AI Article Synopsis
- Normal intrauterine conditions are crucial for optimal brain development, and issues like premature birth can disrupt this process, which can be investigated through techniques like diffusion tensor imaging.
- The study focused on preterm infants to evaluate how their growth in the early weeks post-birth affects brain white matter maturation, using measurements like weight and head circumference.
- Findings revealed that while head circumference growth correlates with immature brain diffusion parameters, other growth metrics (weight and length) did not show significant links, suggesting that growth-restricted infants may experience ongoing delays in brain maturation even with compensatory growth.
Article Abstract
Background: Normal intrauterine conditions are essential to normal brain growth and development; premature birth and growth restriction can interrupt brain maturation. Maturation processes can be studied using diffusion tensor imaging.
Objective: The aim of this study was to use tract-based spatial statistics to assess the effect that early postnatal growth from birth to 40 gestational weeks has on brain white matter maturation.
Materials And Methods: A total of 36 preterm infants were accepted in the study. Postnatal growth was assessed by weight, length and head circumference. Birth weight z-score and gestational age were used as confounding covariates.
Results: Head circumference catch-up growth was associated with less mature diffusion parameters (P < 0.05). No significant associations were observed between weight or length growth and diffusion parameters.
Conclusion: Growth-restricted infants seem to have delayed brain maturation that is not fully compensated at term, despite catch-up growth.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00247-013-2699-9 | DOI Listing |
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