Postnatal Brain Growth Assessed by Sequential Cranial Ultrasonography in Infants Born < 30 Weeks' Gestational Age

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Brain growth in the early postnatal period following preterm birth has not been well described. This study of infants born at <30 weeks' gestational age and without major brain injury aimed to accomplish the following: 1) assess the reproducibility of linear measures made from cranial ultrasonography, 2) evaluate brain growth using sequential cranial ultrasonography linear measures from birth to term-equivalent age, and 3) explore perinatal predictors of postnatal brain growth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants comprised 144 infants born at <30 weeks' gestational age at a single center between January 2011 and December 2013. Infants with major brain injury seen on c..