[Purpose] It is well known that the premature birth is associated with increased risk of neurological and physical problems. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the brain metabolite concentration (conc) and/or volumes in neonates can be an index of the prognosis for the premature birth.[Methods] Twenty-six subjects with premature birth (gestational age: 23-33 weeks) were included. At their postconceptional age of 34-40 weeks, they had brain MRI (Siemens 3T) including MRS (PRESS, TE 30ms, TR 5s). The metabolite conc were calculated using LCModel with water conc of 46.9M. Using T2W images (TE 119-123ms, TR 5s), the volumes were measured using ROI editor (John Hopkins). At a corrected age of 1.5 years, they had developmental quotient (DQ) by Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development. Correlations between the conc and DQ, and the volume and DQ were investigated using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients. The conc change with development was considered. [Results] The creatine, choline, N-acetylaspartate, myo-inositol, and glutamate/glutamine complex conc were 5.4-9.0, 1.3-2.6, 3.0-6.4, 4.8-8.8, and 3.8-11.5mM, in the basal ganglia, respectively, and 3.8-5.9, 1.5-2.3, 2.4-6.1, 5.7-9.3, and 3.9-8.9mM, in the centrum semiovale. The supratentorial, cerebellum, and intracranial volumes were 222-332, 13-22, and 352-550mL, respectively; The DQ were 44-119. No correlations were found between the metabolite conc or volumes and DQ. [Discussion] The DQ is overall index, and in this study fine classification of the DQ was not considered. Also, the volume change with development was not considered. Although we could not find any correlation, more detail studies are needed to confirm whether the MR data in neonates can be an index of the prognosis for premature birth.第44回日本磁気共鳴医学会大