Cerebral Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings in Children Born Extremely Preterm, Very Preterm, and at Term

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare findings on cerebral MRI scans of infants born extremely preterm (i.e., gestation < 28 weeks, very preterm; gestation 28-31 weeks) and at term. MRI scans obtained in a cohort of 29 extremely preterm children at 11 years, 51 very preterm young adults at 19 years, and respective term-born controls were scored according to presence and degree of MRI pathology. MRI pathology was found in 76% of the extremely preterm children vs 31% of their controls (odds ratio 4.3; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-137.5) and in 55% of the very preterm group vs 19% of their controls (odds ratio 5.2; 95% confidence interval, 2.5-10.9). The distribution of moderate and severe pathology did not differ among the groups. The extremely preterm, very preterm, and term subjects shared the same morphological pathology, revealing no specific preterm MRI pattern, but both premature cohorts had higher frequencies. Differences were mainly limited to mild pathology. Whether MRI lesions were more common in the extremely preterm than in the very preterm group is uncertain as the difference in frequency was similar in the two control groups, suggesting a lack of objective criteria for differentiating mild pathology from normality or that MRI scans normally differ at 11 and 19 years of age.