Reduced hippocampal subfield volumes and memory performance in preterm children with and without germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage

Lexuri Fernández De Gamarra-Oca,Élida Vázquez,Leire Zubiaurre-Elorza,Maria A Poca,Carme Junqué,Carme Junqué,Carme Junqué,Alfons Macaya,Sara Soria-Pastor,Sara Soria-Pastor,Ignacio Delgado,Elisabeth Solana,Natalia Ojeda

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-81802-7

Abstract

Preterm newborns with germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage (GM-IVH) are at a higher risk of evidencing neurodevelopmental alterations. Present study aimed to explore the long-term effects that GM-IVH have on hippocampal subfields, and their correlates with memory. The sample consisted of 58 participants, including 36 preterm-born (16 with GM-IVH and 20 without neonatal brain injury), and 22 full-term children aged between 6 and 15 years old. All participants underwent a cognitive assessment and magnetic resonance imaging study. GM-IVH children evidenced lower scores in Full Intelligence Quotient and memory measures compared to their low-risk preterm and full-term peers. High-risk preterm children with GM-IVH evidenced significantly lower total hippocampal volumes bilaterally and hippocampal subfield volumes compared to both low-risk preterm and full-term groups. Finally, significant positive correlations between memory and hippocampal subfield volumes were only found in preterm participants together; memory and the right CA-field correlation remained significant after Bonferroni correction was applied (p = .002). In conclusion, memory alterations and both global and regional volumetric reductions in the hippocampus were found to be specifically related to a preterm sample with GM-IVH. Nevertheless, results also suggest that prematurity per se has a long-lasting impact on the association between the right CA-field volume and memory during childhood.

Highlights

Preterm newborns with germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage (GM-IVH) are at a higher risk of evidencing neurodevelopmental alterations
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can accurately identify and quantitatively assess gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) a bnormalities[5], which correlate with cognitive measures in both low- and high-risk preterm s amples[6,7]
This structure–function relation between abnormal hippocampal growth and memory performance has previously been found in very low birth weight (BW) preterm adults with perinatal morbidity[20]

Summary

Introduction

Preterm newborns with germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage (GM-IVH) are at a higher risk of evidencing neurodevelopmental alterations. GM-IVH children evidenced lower scores in Full Intelligence Quotient and memory measures compared to their low-risk preterm and full-term peers. Studies conferring neonatal brain damage following preterm birth have mainly observed impairments in global neuropsychological performance by providing a measure such as the intelligence quotient (IQ)[18] For all these reasons, the purpose of this MRI study is to consider the long-term effects that high- and low-risk prematurity may have on the hippocampus of preterm children and their associations with memory performance. The lower the GA, the higher the probability of maturing alterations during d evelopment[19], which may result in low-risk preterm children without GM-IVH having decreased hippocampal volumetric values and poorer memory performance in contrast to their full-term peers

Methods

Results

Conclusion