MRI based radiomics enhances prediction of neurodevelopmental outcome in very preterm neonates.

To predict adverse neurodevelopmental outcome of very preterm neonates. A total of 166 preterm neonates born between 24-32 weeks' gestation underwent brain MRI early in life. Radiomics features were extracted from T1- and T2- weighted images. Motor, cognitive, and language outcomes were assessed at a corrected age of 18 and 33 months and 4.5 years. Elastic Net was implemented to select the clinical and radiomic features that best predicted outcome. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was used to determine the predictive ability of each feature set. Clinical variables predicted cognitive outcome at 18 months with AUROC 0.76 and motor outcome at 4.5 years with AUROC 0.78. T1-radiomics features showed better prediction than T2-radiomics on the total motor outcome at 18 months and gross motor outcome at 33 months (AUROC: 0.81 vs 0.66 and 0.77 vs 0.7). T2-radiomics features were superior in two 4.5-year motor outcomes (AUROC: 0.78 vs 0.64 and 0.8 vs 0.57). Combining clinical parameters and radiomics features improved model performance in motor outcome at 4.5 years (AUROC: 0.84 vs 0.8). Radiomic features outperformed clinical variables for the prediction of adverse motor outcomes. Adding clinical variables to the radiomics model enhanced predictive performance.

Cyclic nucleotide distribution within rat striatonigral neurons.

Adenosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate and guanosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate have differential immunohistochemical distributions within retrogradely-labeled striatonigral neurons of the rat. Adenosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate is localized within more than half of the striatonigral projection neurons. It is also within the cytoplasm of other neurons and oligodendroglia. Guanosine cyclic 3'-5'-monophosphate is localized within 80% of the identified striatonigral neurons. These large percentages of cyclic nucleotide immunoreactivity within the striatonigral neurons suggest some of these efferent cells must contain both cyclic nucleotides. The immunofluorescent staining for guanosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate is almost identical to that reported for efferent neurotransmitter-containing neurons of the caudate nucleus. However, the large proportion of striatonigral neurons demonstrating guanosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate immunoreactivity precludes the association of the cyclic nucleotide with a selective neurotransmitter agent. Adenosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate-reactive elements are very different in staining appearance from guanosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate and neurotransmitter-identified somata. The number of striatonigral cells exhibiting reaction for this cyclic nucleotide does not eliminate the possibility that adenosine cyclic 3',5'-monophosphate might be preferentially co-localized with a specific neurotransmitter, such as gamma-aminobutyrate, as has been previously suggested through biochemical experimentation.