More articles from Pediatric Neuroimaging
- Limited Dorsal Myeloschisis and Congenital Dermal Sinus: Comparison of Clinical and MR Imaging Features
These investigators retrospectively reviewed the clinical and MR imaging findings of 12 patients with limited dorsal myeloschisis and 10 patients with congenital dermal sinus. A crater covered with pale epithelium was the most common skin lesion in limited dorsal myeloschisis (83%). Infectious complications were common in congenital dermal sinus (60%), but not found in limited dorsal myeloschisis. They show that limited dorsal myeloschisis has distinct MR imaging features including a visible intrathecal tract with dorsal tenting of the cord at the tract-cord union.
- White Matter Injury and General Movements in High-Risk Preterm Infants
Cerebral palsy has been predicted by analysis of spontaneous movements in the infant termed “General Movement Assessment.” The authors evaluated the utility of General Movement Assessment in predicting adverse cognitive, language, and motor outcomes in very preterm infants and attempted to identify brain imaging markers associated with both adverse outcomes and aberrant general movements in 47 preterm infants using MRI volumetric analysis and DTI. Nine infants had aberrant general movements and were more likely to have adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, compared with infants with normal movements. In infants with aberrant movements, Tract-Based Spatial Statistics analysis identified significantly lower fractional anisotropy in widespread WM tracts. They conclude that aberrant general movements at 10–15 weeks' postterm are associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes and specific white matter microstructure abnormalities for cognitive, language, and motor delays.
- Correlation of MRI Brain Injury Findings with Neonatal Clinical Factors in Infants with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
The authors evaluated MRIs performed before hospital discharge in 53 infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia that were scored forbrain injury by 2 pediatric neuroradiologists. Potential associations with perinatal and clinical variables from the neonatal intensive care unit stay were probed. The most common findings were enlarged extra-axial spaces (36%), intraventricular hemorrhage (23%), ventriculomegaly (19%), white matter injury (17%), and cerebellar hemorrhage (17%). Brain injury score was associated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, lack of oral feeding at discharge, use of inotropes, and gastrostomy tube placement before hospital discharge.