RT journal article
T1 Thalamic volume in very preterm infants: associations with severe brain injury and neurodevelopmental outcome at two years
A1 Trimarco, Emiliano
A1 Jafrasteh, Bahram
A1 Jiménez Luque, Natalia
A1 Marín Almagro, Yolanda
A1 Román Ruiz, Macarena
A1 Lubián Gutiérrez, Manuel
A1 Ruiz González, Estefanía
A1 Segado Arenas, Antonio
A1 Lubián López, Simón Pedro
A1 Benavente Fernández, Isabel
A2 Materno-Infantil y Radiología
A2 Psicología
K1 thalamus
K1 preterm infants
K1 neurodevelopment
K1 brain injury
K1 MRI
AB Introduction: Several studies demonstrate the relationship between pretermbirth and a reduced thalamus volume at term-equivalent age. In contrast, thisstudy aims to investigate the link between the thalamic growth trajectory duringthe early postnatal period and neurodevelopment at two years of age.Methods: Thalamic volume was extracted from 84 early MRI scans atpostmenstrual age of 32.33 (±2.63) weeks and 93 term-equivalent ageMRI scansat postmenstrual age of 42.05 (± 3.33) weeks of 116 very preterm infants (56%male) with gestational age at birth of 29.32 (± 2.28) weeks and a birth weightof 1158.92 (± 348.59) grams. Cognitive, motor, and language outcomes at twoyears of age were assessed with Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler DevelopmentThird Edition. Bivariate analysis was used to describe the clinical variablesaccording to neurodevelopmental outcomes and multilevel linear regressionmodels were used to examine the impact of these variables on thalamic volumeand its relationship with neurodevelopmental outcomes.Results: The results suggest an association between severe brain injury andthalamic growth trajectory (  coef = −0.611; p < 0.001). Moreover, thalamicgrowth trajectory during early postnatal life was associated with the threesubscale scores of the neurodevelopmental assessment (cognitive:   coef =6.297; p = 0.004; motor:   coef = 7.283; p = 0.001; language:   coeficient= 9.053; p = 0.002).Discussion: These findings highlight (i) the impact of severe brain injury onthalamic growth trajectory during early extrauterine life after preterm birth and(ii) the relationship of thalamic growth trajectory with cognitive, motor, andlanguage outcomes.
PB Frontiers
SN 1664-2295
YR 2024
FD 2024-08-14
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/35633
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/35633
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 10-nov-2026