title: Visual function and white matter microstructure in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW) adolescents--a DTI study.
abstract: Premature birth is associated with visual impairments, due to both cerebral and ocular pathology. This study examined the relationship between cerebral white matter microstructure, evaluated by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and visual function, in 30 preterm born adolescents with very low birth weight (VLBW=birth weight⩽1500g) and an age-matched group of 45 term born controls. Visual acuity correlated positively with fractional anisotropy (FA) in corpus callosum and in frontal white matter areas in the VLBW participants, but not in the control participants. Callosal visual connections may play a more important role in the development of good visual acuity than previously acknowledged in preterm born children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's and Women's Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, N-7489 Trondheim, Norway.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lindqvist
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Skranes
authors.forename: Live
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eikenes
authors.forename: Olav
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Haraldseth
authors.forename: Torstein
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vik
authors.forename: Ann-Mari
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Brubakk
authors.forename: Torgil Riise
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Vangberg
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001921:Brain / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D019102:Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; D008297:Male; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D014792:Visual Acuity