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Early extra-uterine exposure alters regional cerebellar growth in infants born preterm

Marie Brossard-Racine1, Robert McCarter2, Jonathan Murnick3

  • 1McGill University Health Centre Research Institute, Division of Pediatric Neonatalogy, Montreal, PQ, Canada; School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada; Center for the Developing Brain, Children's National Health System, Washington, D.C., United States.

Neuroimage. Clinical
|January 12, 2019
PubMed

Insights

Very preterm birth alters cerebellar growth, affecting specific regions differently over time, even without visible injury. These changes persist until term equivalent age.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Pediatric Imaging

Background:

  • Preterm birth (PT) can impact brain development, particularly the cerebellum.
  • Understanding cerebellar growth alterations in PT infants is crucial for long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To compare global and regional cerebellar volumetric growth in very preterm infants versus healthy fetuses.
  • To analyze these growth patterns at two time points: the PT period and term equivalent age (TEA).

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study using high-resolution MRI in 38 PT infants and 38 matched healthy fetuses.
  • Cerebellar parcellation into 5 regions: hemispheres, anterior, neo-, and posterior vermis.
  • Statistical analysis using multiple linear regression to assess volume differences.

Main Results:

  • PT infants showed decreased cerebellar hemispheric volumes and increased vermian volumes compared to controls at the first MRI.
  • At TEA, PT infants had persistent increases in vermian volumes but normalized hemispheric volumes.
  • Neovermis volume correlated negatively with birthweight, male gender, and supratentorial injury.

Conclusions:

  • PT birth is associated with regionally and temporally specific cerebellar growth alterations.
  • These alterations occur even in the absence of overt cerebellar parenchymal injury on conventional MRI.
  • Findings highlight the complex impact of prematurity on cerebellar development.
Abstract

Keywords:
CerebellumFetusGrowthPrematurityVolume

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