PEDIATRICS Vol. 120 No. 3 September 2007, pp. e604-e609 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-3054)
ARTICLE |
Relationship Between White Matter Apparent Diffusion Coefficients in Preterm Infants at Term-Equivalent Age and Developmental Outcome at 2 Years
a Robert Steiner Magnetic Resonance Unit
b Department of Paediatrics, Imaging Sciences Department, Medical Research Council Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
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ABSTRACT |
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 TOP ABSTRACT METHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONCONCLUSIONSREFERENCES |
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OBJECTIVE. The aim of this study was to develop a simple reproducible method for the measurement of apparent diffusion coefficient values in the white matter of preterm infants using diffusion-weighted imaging to test the hypothesis that elevated mean apparent diffusion coefficient values are associated with lower developmental quotient scores at 2 years’ corrected age.
METHODS. We obtained diffusion-weighted imaging in 38 preterm infants at term-equivalent age who had no evidence of overt cerebral pathology on conventional MRI. Mean apparent diffusion coefficient values at the level of the centrum semiovale were determined. The children were assessed using a standardized neurologic examination, and the Griffiths Mental Development Scales were administered to obtain a developmental quotient at 2 years’ corrected age. The relationship between mean apparent diffusion coefficient values and developmental quotient was examined. Clinical data relating to postnatal sepsis, antenatal steroid exposure, supplemental oxygen, gender, patent ductus arteriosus, and inotrope requirement were collected, and the mean apparent diffusion coefficient values for each group were compared.
RESULTS. The mean (±SD) apparent diffusion coefficient value in the white matter was 1.385 ± 0.07 x 10–3 mm2/second, and the mean developmental quotient was 108.9 ± 11.5. None of the children had a significant neurologic problem. There was a significant negative correlation between mean apparent diffusion coefficient and developmental quotient.
CONCLUSION. These findings suggest that higher white matter apparent diffusion coefficient values at term-equivalent age in preterm infants without overt lesions are associated with poorer developmental performance in later childhood. Consequently, apparent diffusion coefficient values at term may be of prognostic value for neurodevelopmental outcome in infants who are born preterm and who have no other imaging indicators of abnormality.
Key Words: brain • preterm • diffusion-weighted imaging • neurodevelopmental outcome • MRI
Abbreviations: cPVL—cystic periventricular leukomalacia • HPI—hemorrhagic parenchymal infarction • DEHSI—diffuse excessive high-signal intensity • DWI—diffusion-weighted imaging • ADC—apparent diffusion coefficient • DQ—developmental quotient • GA—gestational age • TR—repetition time • TE—echo time • CSF—cerebrospinal fluid • ROI—regions of interest • PMA—postmenstrual age • GQ—generalized quotient
Developing white matter is a major site of tissue injury, the mechanisms of which are as yet poorly understood. As survival rates of preterm infants improve, the nature of the prevailing neurodevelopmental abnormalities has also been evolving. Focal lesions such as cystic periventricular leukomalacia (cPVL) and hemorrhagic parenchymal infarction (HPI) are less frequent,1–3 and the detection of more subtle abnormalities is improving. The implementation of long-term follow-up studies, along with more advanced assessment tools and higher survival rates, has led to the identification of neuroimaging abnormalities in preterm infants with no overt pathology on early ultrasound.4
We previously reported a subtle form of white matter abnormality described as diffuse excessive high-signal intensity (DEHSI) in up to 75% of infants born at <30 weeks’ gestation and imaged at term-equivalent age.5 We used diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) to investigate the nature of DEHSI and found that apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were elevated in the white matter of preterm infants with DEHSI compared with those with normal appearing white matter. Furthermore, ADC values in DEHSI were not significantly different from those in the white matter of infants with focal white matter injury, suggesting that DEHSI represents a diffuse white matter abnormality.6 In addition, elevated ADC values are associated with a decrease in volume of central gray matter in preterm infants with no signs of acute injury, suggesting a failure of growth and abnormal connectivity of these structures.7 The aims of this study were to (1) devise a simple method for quantitative DWI analysis of white matter in a cohort of preterm infants with no detectable abnormalities on conventional MRI at term-equivalent age and (2) assess white matter ADC values and developmental quotient (DQ) scores at 2 years’ corrected age to test the hypothesis that there is a negative correlation between ADC values and DQ.
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METHODS |
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TOPABSTRACTMETHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONCONCLUSIONSREFERENCES |
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Ethical permission for this study was granted by the Hammersmith Hospital Research Ethics Committee, and written informed parental consent was obtained for each infant. The study group included preterm infants who were born at
34 weeks’ gestational age (GA) at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital, underwent DWI at term-equivalent age between October 2001 and October 2003, and had neurodevelopmental assessment at 2 years’ corrected age. Infants were recruited to this ongoing MRI study on brain development in preterm infants when their parents agreed and suitable scanning time was available. Infants with overt white matter lesions on conventional MRI (eg, cPVL, HPI) or posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus were excluded from the study group. No infants required mechanical ventilation at the time of the MRI examination. The characteristics of the infants are summarized in Table 1.
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MRI was performed on a 1.5 Tesla Eclipse scanner (Philips Medical Systems, Best, Netherlands) using a dedicated pediatric head coil. The infants were sedated for imaging with oral chloral hydrate (20–30 mg/kg), and pulse oximetry and electrocardiography were monitored throughout the procedure. Ear protection was used for each infant (Natus MiniMuffs; Natus Medical Inc, San Carlos, CA). An experienced neonatologist who was trained in MRI procedures was in attendance throughout the MRI examination. Transverse T1-weighted conventional spin echo (repetition time [TR] 500 milliseconds/echo time [TE] 15 milliseconds) and T2-weighted fast spin echo (TR 4500 milliseconds/TEeff 210 milliseconds) images were obtained before the DWI. Single-shot echo planar DWI was obtained using the following pulse sequence parameters: TR, 6000 milliseconds; TE, 100 milliseconds; matrix, 100 x 100; field of view, 24 cm; and slice thickness, 5 mm. A reference image was obtained with a b value of 0, and DWIs were obtained with a b value of 1000 seconds/mm2 in the read, phase, and slice directions.
Regions of interest (ROI) that included the entirety of the white matter at the level of the centrum semiovale (on the transverse slice above the level of the lateral ventricles, where the central sulcus was at its maximum depth) in both hemispheres were drawn. The ROI were drawn on the ADC map. The white matter was outlined manually taking care to avoid cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or cortical gray matter (Fig 1). The level of the centrum semiovale was selected for examination because it was possible to outline the white matter boundary without the need to segment other brain structures, such as central gray matter or lateral ventricles. A single investigator (Ms Krishnan) made all of the white matter outlines to maintain consistency. Test–retest consistency was assessed by repetition of the measurements in both hemispheres in 10 infants, and the coefficient of variation was <1%.
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Infants who were recruited into the study had a neurodevelopmental assessment using the Griffiths Mental Development Scales (Revised)8 at 2 years’ corrected age (range: 1.73–2.42 years). For those who reached age >2 years, the 2- to 8-years Griffiths scales were used, scores from the younger scales were increased appropriately, and overall DQ then was calculated. The assessments were performed by experienced, appropriately trained pediatricians who were blinded to the brain MRI findings. The majority of children (n = 28) were assessed by the same investigator (Dr Dyet). The Griffiths Mental Development Scales provide an overall DQ with subscales assessing skill areas (locomotor, personal-social, hearing and speech, eye and hand coordination, performance, and additionally practical reasoning for children >2 years). The mean (±SD) DQ score for the general population is 100 (±12).
The children were also examined using the Hammersmith Infant Neurologic examination, which has been standardized at 12 to 18 months.9,10 A score from the examination can be calculated, the optimal being between 73 and 78 in term-born infants. The score can also be used to predict independent sitting and walking by 2 years. The children were examined again at their 2-year visit for any evidence of cerebral palsy.
ADC values and DQ scores were tested for normality. Multiple regression analysis was used to test the relationship between DQ at 2 years of age and ADC value at term-equivalent age, adjusting for postmenstrual age (PMA) at scan. Multiple regression analysis is not susceptible to simple graphic exposition in 2 dimensions. However, partial regression plots can show the relationship of individual variables in a multiple regression model by plotting the residuals from 2 partial regressions. Because the simple correlation between these 2 sets of residuals plotted is equal to the partial correlation between the dependent variable and single independent variable, partial regression plots capture the correct strength of the linear relationship between these 2 variables. Partial regression plots are formed by plotting Y[i[r]] versus Xi[i[r]], where Y[i[r]] is residuals from regressing Y (the dependent variable) against all of the independent variables except Xi and Xi[i[r]] is residuals from regressing Xi against the remaining independent variables.
Clinical data including history of postnatal sepsis, antenatal steroid exposure, supplemental oxygen at 36 weeks, gender, patent ductus arteriosus, and inotrope requirement were collected. Sepsis was defined as a positive culture of blood, urine, abscess, or CSF during the Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital neonatal episode (ie, from birth to discharge). In a series of exploratory analyses, unpaired t tests were used to assess whether the mean ADC values were significantly different between clinical groups.
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RESULTS |
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TOPABSTRACTMETHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONCONCLUSIONSREFERENCES |
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Seventy-four preterm infants had DWI at term-equivalent age. Five infants were excluded from the study because they had cPVL, 3 because they had HPI, and 3 because of posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus. DWI data were degraded because of motion in 13 infants, and neurodevelopmental data were not available for 12 infants at 2 years’ corrected age. (The parents of 6 infants did not wish to attend, including 1 set of triplets and 1 set of twins; 5 infants now are living abroad, and 1 infant did not attend the appointment. ADC values in these infants were not significantly different from those who were included in the study [P = .79].)
DWI and neurodevelopmental assessment data were available for 38 preterm infants. There were no complications during or immediately after the MRI studies. The median GA at birth was 31 weeks, and the median PMA at scanning was 40 weeks (range: 38–44 weeks). Twenty-eight infants had evidence of DEHSI on conventional MRI.
The distributions of mean ADC and DQ were not significantly different from a normal distribution (P = .174 and P = .108). The mean ADC of all the infants was 1.385 ± 0.07 x 10–3 mm2/second. The mean (±SD) DQ in the 38 children was 108.9 ± 11.5 at a median age of 2.05 years (range: 1.73–2.42 years; Table 2). There was no relationship between GA at birth and corrected age at neurodevelopmental assessment (P = .64). No child had evidence of cerebral palsy at 2 years. In addition, the optimality scores that were obtained in 33 of the 38 children from a neurologic examination between 12 and 18 months were >73 (median: 75; range: 69–78).9 Five children did not have this examination at the appropriate age for this assessment but were normal at 2 years.
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Multiple regression analysis demonstrated a significant negative correlation between mean ADC and DQ (P = .014; Table 2, Fig 2). ADC values in the clinical variable groups were normally distributed and so were compared using unpaired t tests. Because only 2 infants received inotropes, ADC values in this group were compared with ADC values in the infants who did not receive inotropes using a Mann-Whitney U test. ADC values were significantly elevated in infants who had a history of postnatal sepsis compared with those who did not (P = .03). Organisms that were isolated from blood cultures were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (n = 2), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (n = 3), Enterococcus (n = 1), Candida albicans (n = 1), Escherichia coli (n = 1), and S epidermidis (n = 1; 1 infant had episodes of both C albicans and S epidermidis). The median age at onset of infection was 9 days (range: 3–28 days). No other significant differences in ADC values were associated with the clinical variables (Table 3).
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DISCUSSION |
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TOPABSTRACTMETHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONCONCLUSIONSREFERENCES |
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The results of this study indicate that there is a significant negative correlation between mean ADC values in the white matter of the centrum semiovale in preterm infants who have no overt pathology on conventional MRI and their DQ scores at 2 years’ corrected age. This negative correlation suggests that white matter abnormality may represent cerebral damage that gives rise to lower DQ scores, which might be mediated through associated cortical and deep gray matter deficits, although additional work is needed to clarify this. None of the children had cerebral palsy or evidence of a suboptimal neurologic examination that alone could account for the lower DQ values in the infants with the higher ADC values.
DWI examines the Brownian motion of water in tissue, and the ADC value is a measure of mean water molecular displacement. With the use of DWI, mean ADC values of 1.385 ± 0.07 x 10–3 mm2/second were obtained in this study at the level of the centrum semiovale. This compares well with previous findings of 1.4 ± 0.2 x 10–3 mm2/second in central white matter of preterm infants at term using line scan diffusion tensor imaging11 and ADC values of 1.361 ± 0.1 x 10–3 mm2/second for frontal white matter, 1.287 ± 0.10 x 10–3 mm2/second for central white matter, and 1.315 ± 0.11 x 10–3 mm2/second for posterior white matter obtained using smaller ROI at the level of the centrum semiovale.6
Recent MRI studies have demonstrated an association between MRI-defined abnormalities and poor neurodevelopmental assessment scores.3,12 Woodward et al12 found that white matter and gray matter abnormalities on MRI were associated with lower neurodevelopmental assessment scores at 2 years’ corrected age and that there was a correlation between the severity of the MRI-defined abnormality and the degree of neurodevelopmental impairment. The most frequently found imaging abnormalities in preterm infants at term-equivalent age are noncystic white matter phenomena seen as DEHSI on T2-weighted images,3,5 abnormal cortical development, and enlarged lateral ventricles.3,13 DEHSI is observed in 
75% to 80% of preterm infants at term-equivalent age,3,5 and it is yet to be shown whether DEHSI represents a mild diffuse form of PVL. It may not reflect a specific injury but rather abnormal development as a result of preterm delivery into the extrauterine environment of the NICU, with a cessation in normal placental growth factors and nutrients that normally are transferred to the fetus in the third trimester. Dyet et al3 reported that there is a significant correlation between DEHSI detected by visual analysis of conventional MRI at term and lower DQ scores, which is supported by this study. In addition, DEHSI is associated with elevated ADC values in the white matter,6 and our data provide additional evidence to link higher ADC values with neurodevelopmental deficits.
The analysis in this study involved the entire white matter at the level of the centrum semiovale, whereas previous studies focused on smaller ROI. Given the large area under examination, it is unlikely that the inclusion of small sections of cortex would have had a bearing on the mean ADC value. All of the measurements were conducted by the same investigator, and variability was low at <1%. The selection of a large amount of white matter might also include some relatively spared areas along with diffusely abnormal areas, which could have lowered the mean ADC values, but it has the advantage of giving an overall view of the white matter at this level. Such diffuse injury could have implications for the connectivity of cerebral structures, leading to abnormalities in their development, as has been documented in the cortex of extremely preterm infants at term14,15 and also in the thalami of preterm infants imaged at term-equivalent age.7 It is these abnormalities in connectivity that are likely to underlie the cognitive developmental impairments that are observed in survivors of preterm birth.
Histologic examination of diffuse white matter disease in the preterm brain has identified regions of diffuse microgliosis and astrogliosis.16 In a recent study of a primate model of preterm brain development, the most common form of injury observed was diffuse white matter damage, including reactive astrogliosis, activated microglia, and ventricular dilation.17 Although we are not aware of any histologic studies correlating this diffuse white matter injury in the human preterm brain to diffusion imaging characteristics, preliminary DWI studies have shown that elevated ADC values in white matter in a primate preterm model are associated with gliosis and axonal damage.18
Of interest, we found that ADC values were elevated in the white matter in infants who had a history of postnatal sepsis. Accumulating evidence suggests that the fetal inflammatory response to intrauterine infection is a major determinant of neurodisability, principally through white matter damage.19,20 Furthermore, preterm infants who generate an immune response in utero are more likely to develop cerebral lesions on very early MRI.21 The study suggests that cerebral white matter may also be vulnerable to damage from infective causes in the postnatal period. We did not find a relationship with any of the other clinical variables that we could assess. Hypocarbia is another known risk factor for white matter injury in preterm infants22,23; although none of the infants in our study was documented as having significant hypocarbia, our data for this variable are not uniformly comprehensive, and therefore we did not include it in the analysis.
There is growing evidence linking cerebral volumetric changes in the cerebellum, hippocampus, whole brain, caudate nucleus, white matter regions, and cortical gray matter with neurodevelopmental and cognitive impairment in children and adolescents who were born preterm (for review, see Counsell and Boardman24). With the use of three-dimensional volumetric techniques, it has been shown that in a group of preterm infants, there was reduced volume of the deep and cortical gray matter as well as myelinated white matter when compared with term control subjects, and the degree of immaturity was the main predictor of volume of deep nuclear gray matter and CSF.13 Lower cortical and white matter volumes were found in preterm infants with white matter lesions when compared with term control subjects.25 With the use of deformation-based morphometry, regional tissue contraction was evident in the thalamus and lentiform nucleus in preterm infants at term-equivalent age when compared with term control subjects. The diminished central gray matter volume was most marked in infants with diffuse white matter damage.7
None of the infants in this study had evidence of focal lesions on conventional MRI. Previous studies of adolescents who were born preterm (<33 weeks’ gestation), and had normal imaging on conventional MRI at age 14 to 15 years demonstrated significantly poorer performance on verbal fluency tests.26 This could mean that subtle abnormalities may be undetectable by conventional MRI in the teenage years but continue to manifest themselves via neuropsychological deficits. It would be of interest to measure ADC values in this group of 2-year-olds to investigate whether they demonstrate abnormalities that could correspond to residual or ongoing white matter abnormalities. However, DWI at 2 years of age was not available in all of these infants.
There are a number of limitations with this study. The sample size is relatively small, and neurodevelopmental assessment was performed at a relatively young age. Additional studies, with larger infant groups and assessments at school age or older, are required to confirm the relationship between elevated ADC values in white matter at term-equivalent age and neurodevelopmental outcome. In addition, the range of corrected ages at imaging and assessment were wide. However, we adjusted for PMA at imaging, and neurodevelopmental assessment was adjusted for the infants’ corrected age.
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CONCLUSIONS |
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TOPABSTRACTMETHODSRESULTSDISCUSSIONCONCLUSIONSREFERENCES |
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The results of this study show a significant negative correlation between mean ADC values in the white matter in preterm infants with no evidence of focal lesions at term-equivalent age and their neurodevelopmental performance as quantified by DQ scores at 2 years’ corrected age. This relationship could not be explained by evidence of neurologic deficits from either of the neurologic examinations. We also found significantly higher mean ADC values in infants with a history of sepsis in the early postnatal period. The implications of this study are that (1) higher ADC values are associated with lower DQ scores, (2) ADC values may be of predictive value regarding neurodevelopmental outcome, and (3) ADC measurement of white matter within the centrum semiovale could be used as a surrogate outcome in interventional studies that are designed to improve neonatal outcomes after preterm delivery.
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FOOTNOTES |
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Accepted Jan 30, 2007.
Address correspondence to Serena J. Counsell, PhD, Robert Steiner MR Unit, Imaging Sciences Department, Imperial College London, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London W12 0HS, United Kingdom. E-mail: serena.counsell{at}imperial.ac.uk
The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
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PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2007 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
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