Diffusion tensor imaging of the inferior colliculus and brainstem auditory-evoked potentials in preterm infants.
BACKGROUND
Preterm and low-birth-weight infants have an increased risk of sensorineural hearing loss. Brainstem auditory-evoked potentials (BAEP) are an effective method to detect subtle deficits in impulse conduction in the auditory pathway. Abnormalities on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) have been shown to be associated with perinatal white-matter injury and reduced fractional anisotropy (FA) has been reported in patients with sensorineural hearing loss.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the possibility of a correlation between BAEP and DTI of the inferior colliculus in preterm infants.


METHODS
DTI at term age and BAEP measurements were performed on all very-low-birth-weight or very preterm study infants (n=56). FA and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the inferior colliculus were measured from the DTI.


RESULTS
Shorter BAEP wave I, III, and V latencies and I-III and I-V intervals and higher wave V amplitude correlated with higher FA of the inferior colliculus.


CONCLUSIONS
The association between the DTI findings of the inferior colliculus and BAEP responses suggests that DTI can be used to assess the integrity of the auditory pathway in preterm infants.
Department of Paediatrics, Turku University Central Hospital, Vaha-Hameenkatu 1 A 6, Turku, 20500, Finland. milla.reiman@utu.fi
Milla
M
Reiman
Riitta
R
Parkkola
Reijo
R
Johansson
Satu K
SK
Jääskeläinen
Harry
H
Kujari
Liisa
L
Lehtonen
Leena
L
Haataja
Helena
H
Lapinleimu
D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D016057:Evoked Potentials, Auditory, Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D007245:Inferior Colliculi / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic