Definition of neurodevelopmental outcome from early brain imaging remains a priority for survivors of very preterm (VPT) birth given their persistently high rates of cognitive and motor difficulties. Volumes of the deep grey matter (DGM) structures were measured longitudinally using magnetic resonance imaging from 96 VPT infants studied within 2 weeks of birth and 70 at term-equivalent age. At 4 years of age, 36 children returned for neuropsychological assessments evaluating IQ, language function, and visual motor integration. Multiple hierarchical regressions examined associations of DGM growth with neuropsychological measures. Overall DGM growth, primarily attributed to the caudate and thalamus, predicted Full Scale IQ, core language and VMI scores after controlling for sex and total brain volume. Thalamic growth was additionally associated with measures of neonatal clinical severity, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and white matter lesions. Longitudinal growth of the DGM, particularly the caudate and thalamus were established as early markers of long-term outcomes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/43352 |
| Date | 11 December 2013 |
| Creators | Young, Julia |
| Contributors | Taylor, Margot |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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