Association Of Head Circumference Research Articles

Association of Head Circumference, Gestational Age and Birth Weight with Severity of Retinopathy of Prematurity

Purpose: To determine relationship between head circumference, gestational age and birth weight with stage of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP). Study Design: Descriptive observational. Place and Duration of Study: Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), Karachi from January 2022 to June 2022. Methods: Infants born at or before 32 weeks of gestation, birth weight of less than or equal to 1500 grams at birth were enrolled. Their head circumference, gestational age and birth weight was measured and Fundoscopy was done to find out ROP. Staging of ROP was recorded four weeks after birth. The severity of ROP was correlated with head circumference, gestational age and birth weight. Results: Of the 82 infants with ROP, 44 (54%) were male and 38 (46%) were female. Mean gestational age was 30 ± 1.4 weeks (range 27-32 weeks),mean birth weight was 1275 ± 155 gram (range 800-1500), and mean Fronto Occipital Circumference (FOC) was 29 ± 1.6 cm (range 25-32 cm). Degree (stage) of ROP was as follows; 14 (17.1%) infants had stage 1 disease, 24 (29.3%) had stage 2 disease, 28 (34.1%) had stage 3 disease, 13 (15.9%) had stage 4 disease and 3 (3.7%) had stage 5 disease. There was statistically significant association of gestational age, birth weight and head circumference (FOC) with the degree of ROP (P<0.001) Conclusion: Head circumference, gestational age and birth weight had a significant association with degree of ROP (P<0.001).

Association of head circumference with cognitive decline and symptoms of depression in elderly: a 3-year prospective study.

BackgroundBrain volume is associated with dementia and depression in the elderly. An easy way to predict relative brain volume is to measure head circumference. In this study, we investigated the relationship between head circumference and cognition as well as depression in a non-demented elderly community.MethodsBaseline and follow-up surveys were conducted in 2007 and 2010. At baseline, community residents aged 65 years or over (n=382) within a rural area of South Korea were screened for dementia and symptoms of depression and were followed using the same screening battery after 3 years (n=279). Data from anthropometric measurements (head circumference, height, and body weight), demographics, and blood tests were gathered. Neuropsychological tests, including the Korean version of mini-mental state examination (K-MMSE), clinical dementia rating (CDR) including the CDR-sum of boxes, the Korean version of instrumental activities of daily living, and geriatric depression scale (GDS), were performed. None of the 279 subjects followed were demented.ResultsBaseline performance on the K-MMSE and GDS was poorer for participants with smaller head circumferences. Follow-up performance on the MMSE was also poorer for participants with smaller head circumferences. Interestingly, participants with smaller head circumference showed worse GDS scores at baseline but on follow-up examination, participants with larger head circumference showed rapid worsening than those with smaller head circumference with marginal significance by ANOVA test. In regression coefficient analysis, GDS decline showed significant difference.ConclusionHead circumference was not associated with cognitive change but was associated with symptoms of depression in non-demented community residents.

ROLE OF RESERVE IN REDUCING DEMENTIA: COMPARISON OF TWO LARGE CLINICOPATHOLOGIC STUDIES

The role of reserve in reducing dementia is well recognized. To assess its role, we compared neuropathological and clinical data from two large studies, the Nun Study and the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study. Exploratory factor analyses of neuropathological measures and education suggested 3 factors in the Nun Study, corresponding to the severity of Alzheimer and vascular pathology and reserve (education and brain weight). The same 3 factors with one additional factor, severity of Lewy pathology, were seen in the ACT Study. Structural equation models (SEM) for dementia were constructed with latent variables representing these factors. Indicators for latent variables were included if their loadings exceeded 0.5 in the exploratory factor analyses. In both study models, the Alzheimer latent factor had 4 indicators, the vascular latent factor 3 indicators and the reserve latent factor 2 indicators. Associations of head circumference (Nun Study only) and the Alzheimer latent factor with brain weight (an indicator of reserve) were included in the SEMs in addition to a direct effect of age at death on dementia. Analyses were based on 263 autopsied nuns and 489 autopsied participants in the ACT Study. In the nuns, brain weight was significantly associated with head circumference, but not with the Alzheimer latent factor. Reserve was more strongly associated with dementia in the Nun Study with a beta of -0.73 (p<0.001) vs. the ACT study with a beta of -0.26 (p=0.016). Participants in the Nun Study (compared with female ACT participants) were 2.1 years older at death and had lower brain weights at autopsy (both p<0.0001). Demented participants in the Nun Study included a significantly greater percentage of those with low Braak stage (≤2) compared to demented participants in the ACT Study (46.6% vs. 33.8%, p < 0.001). Within the low Braak stage group, the risk of dementia was strongly related to low reserve (lower education and brain weight). While reserve plays a role in dementia at all ages, its contribution appears to be greatest at advanced ages, where dementia occurs more frequently in the presence of less Alzheimer pathology.

Macrocephaly in infancy: benign enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces and subdural collections.

OBJECTIVE Benign enlargement of the subarachnoid spaces (BESS) is a common finding on imaging studies indicated by macrocephaly in infancy. This finding has been associated with the presence of subdural fluid collections that are sometimes construed as suggestive of abusive head injury. The prevalence of BESS among infants with macrocephaly and the prevalence of subdural collections among infants with BESS are both poorly defined. The goal of this study was to determine the relative frequencies of BESS, hydrocephalus, and subdural collections in a large consecutive series of imaging studies performed for macrocephaly and to determine the prevalence of subdural fluid collections among patients with BESS. METHODS A text search of radiology requisitions identified studies performed for macrocephaly in patients ≤ 2 years of age. Studies of patients with hydrocephalus or acute trauma were excluded. Studies that demonstrated hydrocephalus or chronic subdural hematoma not previously recognized but responsible for macrocephaly were noted but not investigated further. The remaining studies were reviewed for the presence of incidental subdural collections and for measurement of the depth of the subarachnoid space. A 3-point scale was used to grade BESS: Grade 0, < 5 mm; Grade 1, 5-9 mm; and Grade 2, ≥ 10 mm. RESULTS After exclusions, there were 538 studies, including 7 cases of hydrocephalus (1.3%) and 1 large, bilateral chronic subdural hematoma (0.2%). There were incidental subdural collections in 21 cases (3.9%). Two hundred sixty-five studies (49.2%) exhibited Grade 1 BESS, and 46 studies (8.6%) exhibited Grade 2 BESS. The prevalence of incidental subdural collections among studies with BESS was 18 of 311 (5.8%). The presence of BESS was associated with a greater prevalence of subdural collections, and higher grades of BESS were associated with increasing prevalence of subdural collections. After controlling for imaging modality, the odds ratio of the association of BESS with subdural collections was 3.68 (95% CI 1.12-12.1, p = 0.0115). There was no association of race, sex, or insurance status with subdural collections. Patients with BESS had larger head circumference Z-scores, but there was no association of head circumference or age with subdural collections. Interrater reliability in the diagnosis and grading of BESS was only fair. CONCLUSIONS The current study confirms the association of BESS with incidental subdural collections and suggests that greater depth of the subarachnoid space is associated with increased prevalence of such collections. These observations support the theory that infants with BESS have a predisposition to subdural collections on an anatomical basis. Incidental subdural collections in the setting of BESS are not necessarily indicative of abusive head injury.

Associations of head circumference at birth with early life school performance and later-life occupational prestige

Head circumference at birth has been suggested as a marker of foetal brain development. New-borns with small head size have been shown to have lower intelligence scores in childhood. It is, however, unclear whether this relationship extends into adult life, and more importantly, whether adult status attainment and lifetime success is affected as a result. Furthermore it is unclear how social origin at birth attenuates the relationship between foetal brain development, childhood cognitive outcomes, and lifetime status attainment. Using the Uppsala Birth Cohort Multigenerational Study, a unique population-based database of 14,192 individuals followed from birth into advanced old age, we demonstrate that those born with small head circumference experience reductions in both early-life school performance and lifetime occupational prestige. These effects are not subject to modification by parental social class: small head size at birth is associated with lower grades and lower occupational prestige among individuals born into both advantaged and disadvantaged social classes. Employing causal mediation analysis, we also demonstrate that the link between head circumference at birth and adult occupational prestige is mainly the result of a direct effect, although a portion of this effect is also mediated by early-life school performance which also contributes to occupational attainment trajectories. These findings demonstrate the importance of early-life environments for cognitive development as well as lifetime status attainment.

Association of head circumference at birth among sibling pairs.

The objective of the study was to estimate and compare the correlation coefficients of head circumference and weight at birth among sibling pairs. Pairs of singleton siblings were ascertained among children born in Norway to the same mother between 1978 and 1997. Head circumference, birthweight and other perinatal factors were registered in the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Head circumference measurements were obtained for first- and second-born in 287 448 sibling pairs. The correlation coefficient of head circumference among first- and second-born siblings was 0.343 (standard error 0.002) compared with 0.477 (standard error 0.002) for birthweight. These results were similar for later-born sibling pairs and only slightly influenced by other factors such as sex, fatherhood and time between pregnancies. Sensitivity analyses showed that substantial measurement error is required to explain the lower correlation for head circumference. In conclusion, the sibling correlation of head circumference was consistently weaker than that of birthweight.