Cranial magnetic resonance imaging and school performance in very low birth weight infants in adolescence

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood. Fetal and neonatal edition Vol. 81; no. 2; pp. F116 - F121
• Main Authors: Cooke, R W I, Abernethy, L J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health 01.09.1999; BMJ; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Group
• Subjects: Adolescent; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; Biological and medical sciences; Birth weight; Brain - pathology; Brain Diseases - diagnosis; Brain Diseases - physiopathology; Brain Diseases - psychology; Cerebral Ventricles - pathology; Children; Corpus Callosum - pathology; Dilatation, Pathologic - psychology; Emergency and intensive care: neonates and children. Prematurity. Sudden death; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Infant, Newborn; Infant, Premature - psychology; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight - psychology; Infants; Intelligence; Intensive care medicine; Learning disabilities; learning disorder; Learning Disorders - etiology; Learning Disorders - physiopathology; Leukomalacia, Periventricular - psychology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical sciences; MRI; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Original; periventricular leucomalacia; very low birthweight; Human; Premature; Cerebral infarction; Psychomotor development; Nervous system diseases; Prognosis; Pregnancy disorders; School adaptation; Cardiovascular disease; Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging; Cerebral disorder; Vascular disease; Very low birthweight; Newborn diseases; Newborn; Periventricular leukomalacia; Central nervous system disease; Medical imagery; Cerebrovascular disease; Brain (vertebrata)
• ISSN: 1359-2998; 1468-2052
• DOI: 10.1136/fn.81.2.F116

AIM To determine whether neurological deficits are associated with structural anomalies of the brain in very low birthweight (VLBW) infants with subsequent learning disorders but without cerebral palsy, or whether other factors, such as poor early growth, are responsible. METHODS Eighty seven VLBW infants and eight term controls who had been examined at school between the ages of 12 and 13 years, had cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at 15–17 years of age. RESULTS Thirty seven (42.5%) of the VLBW children had abnormalities reported on their scans (two porencephaly, 28 periventricular leucomalacia, 24 ventricular dilatation, and 15 thinning of the corpus callosum). No significant differences in intelligence quotient, motor clumsiness, or frequency of attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder were observed between those children with MRI lesions and those with normal scans. Quantitative measurements showed the VLBW infants had smaller brains, and a relatively smaller corpus callosum compared with controls. No association between brain measurements and school performance was observed among the VLBW infants. CONCLUSIONS The difficulties experienced by VLBW children at school are unlikely to be the result of perinatal brain injury, but they might to be attributable to the effects of poor postnatal growth.