title: Microstructural brain development between 30 and 40 weeks corrected age in a longitudinal cohort of extremely preterm infants.
abstract: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is frequently used to assess brain development in preterm infants. This study investigates maturational changes in diffusivity measures in 122 regions of the brain between 30 and 40 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA) using the neonatal atlas of Oishi and colleagues (Oishi et al., 2011). Forty infants without cerebral injury and with normal neurodevelopmental outcome were selected from a cohort of preterm infants (gestational age<28 weeks), scanned longitudinally at 30 and 40 weeks PMA. Fractional anisotropy (FA) changed significantly in 84 brain regions, with the largest increase in the central brain regions; by contrast, the cortical brain regions showed a decrease in FA. Mean, radial and axial diffusivity all showed a clear decrease in the majority of brain regions. This study provides longitudinal reference diffusivity values in a cohort of extremely preterm infants, showing a central to peripheral and posterior to anterior directed gradient, in line with our current understanding of brain maturation, and adding to this knowledge. This study further elucidates brain maturation in preterm infants during the last 10 weeks prior to term equivalent age. The presented values can be used as a reference for assessing brain development in other cohorts, when investigating the effects of brain injury in this vulnerable period, and to evaluate the effect of future neuroprotective strategies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital/University Medical Center Utrecht, KE 04.123.1, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: K.Kersbergen@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Karina J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kersbergen
authors.affiliation: Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, QS 459, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Alexander@isi.uu.nl.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Leemans
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital/University Medical Center Utrecht, KE 04.123.1, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: F.Groenendaal@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Floris
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Groenendaal
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital/University Medical Center Utrecht, KE 04.123.1, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: N.vanderAa@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Niek E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: van der Aa
authors.affiliation: Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, QS 459, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: M.Viergever@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Max A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Viergever
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital/University Medical Center Utrecht, KE 04.123.1, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands. Electronic address: L.S.deVries@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Linda S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.affiliation: Department of Perinatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital/University Medical Center Utrecht, KE 04.123.1, P.O. Box 85090, 3508 AB Utrecht, The Netherlands; Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands; Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, UK. Electronic address: M.Benders@umcutrecht.nl.
authors.forename: Manon J N L
authors.initials: MJNL
authors.lastname: Benders
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000254:growth & development*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D062071:Infant, Extremely Premature / Q000254:growth & development*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male
keywords: Brain development; DTI; Diffusivity measures; Fractional anisotropy; Longitudinal; Preterm