Abnormal Cerebral Structure Is Present at Term in Premature Infants

Long-term studies of the outcome of very prematurely born infants have clearly documented that the majority of such infants have significant motor, cognitive, and behavioral deficits. However, there is a limited understanding of the nature of the cerebral abnormality underlying these adverse neurologic outcomes.

The overall aim of this study was to define quantitatively the alterations in cerebral tissue volumes at term equivalent in a large longitudinal cohort study of very low birth weight premature infants in comparison to term-born infants by using advanced volumetric 3-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques. We also aimed to define any relationship of such perinatal lesions as white matter (WM) injury or other potentially adverse factors to the quantitative structural alterations. Additionally, we wished to identify the relationship of the structural alterations to short-term neurodevelopmental outcome.