Is sequential cranial ultrasound reliable for detection of white matter injury in very preterm infants?

Cranial ultrasound (cUS) may not be reliable for detection of diffuse white matter (WM) injury. Our aim was to assess in very preterm infants the reliability of a classification system for WM injury on sequential cUS throughout the neonatal period, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as reference standard. In 110 very preterm infants (gestational age < 32 weeks), serial cUS during admission (median 8, range 4-22) and again around term equivalent age (TEA) and a single MRI around TEA were performed. cUS during admission were assessed for presence of WM changes, and contemporaneous cUS and MRI around TEA additionally for abnormality of lateral ventricles. Sequential cUS (from birth up to TEA) and MRI were classified as normal/mildly abnormal, moderately abnormal, or severely abnormal, based on a combination of findings of the WM and lateral ventricles. Predictive values of the cUS classification were calculated. Sequential cUS were classified as normal/mildly abnormal, moderately abnormal, and severely abnormal in, respectively, 22%, 65%, and 13% of infants and MRI in, respectively, 30%, 52%, and 18%. The positive predictive value of the cUS classification for the MRI classification was high for severely abnormal WM (0.79) but lower for normal/mildly abnormal (0.67) and moderately abnormal (0.64) WM. Sequential cUS during the neonatal period detects severely abnormal WM in very preterm infants but is less reliable for mildly and moderately abnormal WM. MRI around TEA seems needed to reliably detect WM injury in very preterm infants.Epidemiology in Pediatrics and Child Healt

Patterns of neonatal hypoxic–ischaemic brain injury

Enormous progress has been made in assessing the neonatal brain, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In this review, we will describe the use of MRI and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in detecting different patterns of brain injury in (full-term) human neonates following hypoxic–ischaemic brain injury and indicate the relevance of these findings in predicting neurodevelopmental outcome

Neonatal diffusion-weighted MR imaging: relation with histopathology or follow-up MR examination

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has become a standard method for early evaluation of stroke in adults, but its value in neonates is less well established. In this study neonatal DWI was compared with histopathology in those patients who died, or with sequelae seen on a second MR in the surviving neonates. DWI was performed in 2 groups. Group 1: seven neonates who died and had a post-mortem ex-amination (perinatal asphyxia [n=5], symptomatic hypoglycemia [n= 11, periventricular leukomalacia [n= 1]). Group 2: six surviving neonates with a second MR examination at three months of age (perinatal asphyxia [n= 21, neonatal stroke[n= 3], meningo-encephalitis [n= 1]). In group l neonatal DWI showed more extensive involvement than conventional MRI in 6 out of 7 patients. These changes were less extensive,however, than seen post-mortem by histopathology in 5 out of 7. In group 2 neonatal DWI showed more extensive involvement than conventional MRI in 2 out of 6; 4 out of 6, however, showed less extensive cystic evolution on follow-up MRI at 3 months than expected from neonatal imaging. There was a good relation between hyperintense areas on DWI and areas of cytotoxic edema and neuronal damage on histopathology. In the survivors a second MRI showed cystic evolution in all, but the volume of the cysts was smaller than expected on the basis of the neonatal DWI finding