title: Preterm infants' early growth and brain white matter maturation at term age.
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.
  
  
  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.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Growth-restricted infants seem to have delayed brain maturation that is not fully compensated at term, despite catch-up growth.
authors.affiliation: Medical Imaging Centre of Southwest Finland, Turku University Central Hospital, Turku, Finland, vikale@utu.fi.
authors.forename: Virva
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lepomäki
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leppänen
authors.forename: Jaakko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matomäki
authors.forename: Helena
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lapinleimu
authors.forename: Liisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lehtonen
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Haataja
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Komu
authors.forename: Päivi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rautava
authors.forename: Riitta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Parkkola
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development*; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity