RT journal article
T1 Ultrasonographic evaluation of the early brain growth pattern in very low birth weight infants
A1 Ruiz González, Estefanía
A1 Benavente Fernández, Isabel
A1 Lubián Gutiérrez, Manuel
A1 Segado Arenas, Antonio
A1 Zafra Rodríguez, Pamela
A1 Méndez Abad, Paula
A1 Lubián López, Simón Pedro
A2 Materno-Infantil y Radiología
K1 pretérmino
K1 Ecografía Transfontanelar
K1 crecimiento cerebral
AB BACKGROUND: Preterm infants develop smaller brain volumes compared to term newborns. Our aim is to study early brain growth related to perinatal factors in very low birth weight infants (VLBWI). METHODS: Manual segmentation of total brain volume (TBV) was performed in weekly 3D-ultrasonographies in our cohort ofVLBWI. We studied the brain growth pattern related to term magnetic resonance image (term-MRI).RESULTS: We found different brain growth trajectories, with smaller brain volumes and a decrease in brain growth rate in those VLBWI who would later have an abnormal term-MRI (mean TBV 190.68 vs. 213.9 cm3; P = 0.0001 and mean TBV growth rate 14.35 (±1.27) vs. 16.94 (±2.29) cm3/week; P = 0.0001). TBV in those with normal term-MRI was related to gestational age (GA), being small for gestational age (SGA), sex, and duration of parenteral nutrition (TPN) while in those with abnormal term-MRI findings it was related to GA, SGA, TPN, and comorbidities. We found a deceleration in brain growth rate in those with ≥3 comorbidities.CONCLUSIONS: An altered brain growth pattern in VLBWI who subsequently present worst scores on term-MRI is related to GA, being SGA and comorbidities. Early ultrasonographic monitoring of TBV could be useful to detect deviated patterns of brain growth.
PB Springer Nature
SN 1530-0447
YR 2023
FD 2023-01-09
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/30377
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/30377
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-nov-2026