Diffusion Tensor Imaging of White Matter in Children Born from Preeclamptic Gestations

Voxel-based analysis comparing the brains of children born from preeclamptic pregnancies with the brains of children born from typical healthy pregnancies (controls). A custom template was created on the basis of the anatomic images of all 20 children enrolled in this study. Voxel-based analysis was performed to compare white matter measurements in PE-F1s and control children. The blue and red dots represent areas where there might have been differences between the fractional anisotropy values (A and C) or mean diffusivity values (B and D). From the voxel-based analysis, areas in which a cluster of voxels persisted through at least ≥3 sections were identified and used to define the specific ROIs to be used as seeds for tractography. Magnification of an area (C and D) is used as an example of how ROIs were defined. The 3 most dot-clustered regions in voxel-based analysis for FA and MD were selected, yielding 6 ROIs for more detailed analysis. The ROIs identified on FA were the following: 2, middle occipital gyrus; 7, caudate nucleus; and 9, precuneus. The ROIs identified on MD were the following: 1, cerebellum; 6, superior longitudinal fasciculus; and 7, cingulate gyrus.