A comparative study of cerebellar development between appropriate-for-gestational age infants and small-for-gestational-age infants / 中国当代儿科杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate whether there is a difference in cerebellar development between appropriate -for-gestational-age (AGA) infants and small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants.@*METHODS@#A total of 165 AGA infants and 105 SGA infants, with a gestational age of 26-40 weeks, were enrolled in this study. Within 24-48 hours after birth, ultrasound examination was performed to measure the transverse diameter of the cerebellum, the height of the vermis, the area of the vermis, the perimeter of the vermis, and the area and perimeter of the cerebellum on transverse section. A Pearson correlation analysis was used to investigate the correlation between cerebellar measurements and gestational age.@*RESULTS@#In both AGA and SGA infants, all cerebellar measurements were positively correlated with gestational age (r=0.50-0.81, P0.05), while in the 34-36 weeks and 37-40 weeks subgroups, the SGA infants had significantly lower measurements than the AGA infants (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSIONS@#The SGA infants with a gestational age of <34 weeks have intrauterine cerebellar development similar to AGA infants, but those with a gestational age of ≥34 weeks have poorer intrauterine cerebellar development than AGA infants.

Correlation between growth rate of corpus callosum and neuromotor development in preterm infants / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the growth rate of corpus callosum by cranial ultrasound in very low birth weight preterm infants and to provide a reference for early evaluation and improvement of brain development.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 120 preterm infants under 33 weeks' gestation were recruited and divided into 26-29(+6) weeks group (n=64) and 30-32(+6) weeks group (n=56) according to the gestational age. The growth rate of corpus callosum was compared between the two groups. The correlation between the corpus callosum length and the cerebellar vermis length and the relationship of the growth rate of corpus callosum with clinical factors and the neuromotor development were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The growth rate of corpus callosum in preterm infants declined since 2 weeks after birth. Compared with the 30-32(+6) weeks group, the 26-29(+6) weeks group had a significantly lower growth rate of corpus callosum at 3-4 weeks after birth, at 5-6 weeks after birth, and from 7 weeks after birth to 40 weeks of corrected gestational age. There was a positive linear correlation between the corpus callosum length and the cerebellar vermis length. Small-for-gestational age infants had a low growth rate of corpus callosum at 2 weeks after birth. The 12 preterm infants with severe abnormal intellectual development had a lower growth rate of corpus callosum compared with the 108 preterm infants with non-severe abnormal intellectual development at 3-6 weeks after birth. The 5 preterm infants with severe abnormal motor development had a significantly lower growth rate of corpus callosum compared with the 115 preterm infants with non-severe abnormal motor development at 3-6 weeks after birth.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The decline of growth rate of corpus callosum in preterm infants at 2-6 weeks after birth can increase the risk of severe abnormal neuromotor development.</p>

A contrastive study of corpus callosum area in very preterm and full-term infants / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the differences between full-term and VLBW premature infants at term equivalent for the whole and sub-regional corpus callosum areas in order to provide reference for monitoring the extrauterine development of corpus callosum in VLBW premature infants.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Brain MR image data of 24 term infants with a gestational age of 39 weeks were collected within 24 hours after birth. Brain MR image of 30 VLBW neonates at 39 weeks' gestational age equivalent were successfully obtained. Routine T1WI, T2WI and DWI were applied. T1-weighted images on the mid-sagittal slice were selected, analyzed and measured. Forty-nine eligible MR images of them were chosen, 21 cases from the full-term infant group and 28 cases from the premature infant group. Corpus callosum and brain MR images were then sketched by two radiographic doctors. All data were analyzed by the Image Processing Function of MATLAB R2010a, and the whole corpus callosum and six sub-regions were obtained.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The whole corpus callosum, anterior mid-body, posterior mid-body, isthmus and splenium area in the premature infant group were smaller than those in the full-term infant group (P<0.05), but the differences of Genu and rostral body area between the two groups was not statistically significant (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The areas of the whole corpus callosum, anterior mid-body, posterior mid-body, isthmus and splenium in VLBW preterm infants at term are reduced, suggesting that the posterior end of the corpus callosum is probably most vulnerable to insults following pathogenic factors.</p>