Specific white matter diffusion characteristics in the newborn period correlate with either neuromotor or neurocognitive outcome at 2 years. A voxel based Analysis

Introduction Full attainment of brain function is dependent on cortical integrity and fully myelinated white matter. Myelination is an important process of brain development. This process takes place in the foetal period and is mostly completed by the age of 2. Preterm birth can lead to delay and deficits in brain myelination with consequences for neuromotor and neurocognitive capacities in early child development and later in life. Developmental difficulties after preterm brain are characterized by motor deficits and neurocognitive delay in attention control, language development and executive functions. Early structural correlates of these deficits are missing. Diffusion MRI provides insight into brain development and the quantitative indices of diffusion and of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) are related to brain maturation [1]. ADC values in particular decrease with brain myelination [2]. Studies that correlate regional MRI diffusion changes in the newborn period to early childhood outcome are still lacking. Thus, this study presents results of a voxel based analysis of ADC in the newborn period and the neuromotor and neurocognitive outcome of preterm infants at 2 years of age.