Abstract
This case series assesses white matter microstructure of the cerebellar peduncles in 4 adolescents born preterm with enlarged ventricles and reduced white matter volume in the cerebrum but no apparent injury to the cerebellum. Subjects (ages 12-17 years, gestational age 26-32 weeks, birth weight 825-2211 g) were compared to a normative sample of 19 full-term controls (9-17 years, mean gestational age 39 weeks, mean birth weight 3154 g). Tract profiles for each of the cerebellar peduncles were generated by calculating fractional anisotropy at 30 points along the central portion of each tract. One or more case subjects exhibited higher fractional anisotropy beyond the 90th percentile in the inferior, middle, and superior cerebellar peduncles. Findings demonstrate that differences in cerebellar white matter microstructure can be detected in the absence of macrostructural cerebellar abnormalities.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 321-327 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Child Neurology |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Mar 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© The Author(s) 2015.
Funding
All elements of the study were performed at Stanford University. The results have not been previously published elsewhere. The authors thank the children and families who participated in the study; Jason D. Yeatman, Robert Dougherty, and Brian Wandell for helpful suggestions regarding the analyses; and the developmental-behavioral pediatrics research group for discussions of the results.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health | R01HD069162, UL1RR025744 |
| National Institute of Child Health and Human Development | R01HD046500 |
| Stanford University |
Keywords
- cerebellum
- diffusion MRI
- preterm
- tractography
- white matter