THE EFFECT OF INCREASING PREMATURITY ON CEREBRAL WHITE MATTER STUDIED USING TRACT-BASED SPATIAL STATISTICS Mustafa Anjari, United Kingdom    - Biography English - 2007-10-07

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Background and aims: Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) is an automated observer-independent method of aligning fractional anisotropy (FA) images from multiple subjects to allow groupwise comparisons of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) data. We aimed to use TBSS to investigate whether immaturity at birth was associated with reduced FA in the major cerebral white matter pathways in preterm infants with no evidence of focal abnormality on conventional MRI.

Methods: We studied 49 infants (22 male, 27 female) imaged at term-equivalent age. The mean [range] gestational age (GA) was 28.3 [24.3–32.6] weeks, and the mean [range] age at scan was 41.9 [38.1–45.3] weeks. Scanning was performed on a Philips 3T system and DTI was acquired in 15 non-collinear directions with a b-value of 750 s/mm². Voxelwise statistical analysis of the FA data was carried out using TBSS implemented in FSL.

Results: FA values in the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum (CC) were positively correlated with GA (P < 0.05). Areas in blue in Figure 1 represent regions of significant positive correlation of FA with GA; regions in pink displayed no correlation with GA.

Conclusions: Previous MRI studies have shown thinning of the CC in preterm infants. Our findings show microstructural abnormalities in this region are associated with immaturity at birth.