title: Radiologic differences in white matter maturation between preterm and full-term infants: TBSS study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Widespread white matter (WM) pathology in preterm children has been proposed.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to investigate maturational differences of WM between preterm infants with thinning of the corpus callosum and full-term infants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 18 preterm children and 18 full-term children were divided into three subgroups according to the corrected age at the time of diffusion tensor imaging scanning. Tract-based spatial statistics was used for assessing differences in fractional anisotropy (FA) between preterm and full-term children, and between each age-related subgroup in preterm and in full-term children.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the preterm group, FA values of overall WM showed an increase with age. This trend indicates that WM maturation is a gradual occurrence during a child's first 2 years. In the full-term group, most WM structures had reached maturation at around 1 year of age; however, centrum semiovale level showed sustained maturation during the first 2 years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of our study demonstrate radiologic maturational differences of WM and provide evidence of the need for therapeutic intervention within 2 years of birth to prevent specific functional impairment and to improve clinical outcome in preterm children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, College of Medicine, Yeungnam University, 317-1 Daemyungdong, Namku, Taegu, South Korea, 705-717.
authors.forename: Ah Young
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Eunsil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sang Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Hee Kyung
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Hae Min
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Jo
authors.forename: Su Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Son
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000473:pathology*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D047929:Term Birth