Regional cerebral development at term relates to school-age social-emotional development in very preterm children

Abstract

Objective: Preterm children are at risk for socialemotional difficulties, including autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. We assessed the relationship of regional brain development in preterm children, evaluated via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at term-equivalent postmenstrual age (TEA), to later socialemotional difficulties. Method: MR images obtained at TEA from 184 very preterm infants (gestation <30 weeks or birth weight <1,250 g) were analyzed for white matter abnormalities, hippocampal volume, and brain metrics. A total of 111 infants underwent diffusion tensor imaging, which provided values for fractional anisotropy and apparent diffusion coefficient. Socialemotiona..