Surface deformation-based analysis of regional shape variations of hippocampus in children with FAS

Introduction Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) – a condition caused by chronic maternal alcohol consumption during pregnancy is estimated to be the most common preventable cause of learning disability worldwide [1]. The effect of prenatal alcohol exposure on poorer infant growth is seen not only in children with full FAS but also in alcohol-exposed children who lack the characteristic facial dysmorphology [2-4]. Recent studies have reported very heavy alcohol use during pregnancy [5,6] and a high prevalence of FAS in the Cape Coloured community in the Western Cape Province of South Africa [7,8], with one of the highest incidences of FAS in the world. MRI studies of children and adults with Fetal Acohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have demonstrated disproportionately smaller cerebellum, parietal lobe, caudate nucleus, and corpus callosum [9]. Structural anomalies have also been documented in the perisylvian cortices of the parietal and temporal lobes. To date, shape analyses have only been performed of the corpus callosum [10]. We report initial results using shape analysis to analyse structural variations in the hippocampus.