Longitudinal Changes in the Sensorimotor Pathways of Very Preterm Infants During the First Year of Life With and Without Intervention: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT

Objective: Evaluate longitudinal changes in brain microstructure and volumes in very preterm infants during the first year of life with and without intervention.

Design: Descriptive pilot study.

Methods: Five preterm infants in a three-arm clinical trial, one SPEEDI Early, two SPEEDI Late, and two usual care. Brain structural and diffusion MRI’s were acquired within 72 hours after neonatal intensive care unit discharge (n = 5), three months post-baseline (n = 5), and six months post-baseline (n = 3). Fractional anisotropy (FA), Mean diffusivity (MD), and volume metrics were computed for five brain regions.

Results: More than 60% of eligible participants completed 100% of the scheduled MRIs. FA and volume increased from baseline to six months across all brain regions. Rate of white matter volume change from baseline to six months was highest in SPEEDI Early.

Conclusions: Non-sedated longitudinal MRI is feasible in very preterm infants and appears to demonstrate longitudinal changes in brain structure and connectivity.

KEYWORDS:

• DTI
• corticospinal tract
• preterm infants
• intervention

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank children and parents who participated in this study. We would also like to thank Dave Bessom and Meagan Miller for their support in getting high quality family friendly imaging. CEK and DKT acknowledge the support of the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, The University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics, and the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Program.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [1R01HD093624]; Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) UL1TR002649.