AUTHOR=Blesa Manuel , Galdi Paola , Sullivan Gemma , Wheater Emily N. , Stoye David Q. , Lamb Gillian J. , Quigley Alan J. , Thrippleton Michael J. , Bastin Mark E. , Boardman James P. TITLE=Peak Width of Skeletonized Water Diffusion MRI in the Neonatal Brain JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology VOLUME=11 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.00235 DOI=10.3389/fneur.2020.00235 ISSN=1664-2295 ABSTRACT=
Preterm birth is closely associated with cognitive impairment and generalized dysconnectivity of neural networks inferred from water diffusion MRI (dMRI) metrics. Peak width of skeletonized mean diffusivity (PSMD) is a metric derived from histogram analysis of mean diffusivity across the white matter skeleton, and it is a useful biomarker of generalized dysconnectivity and cognition in adulthood. We calculated PSMD and five other histogram based metrics derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation and dispersion imaging (NODDI) in the newborn, and evaluated their accuracy as biomarkers of microstructural brain white matter alterations associated with preterm birth. One hundred and thirty five neonates (76 preterm, 59 term) underwent 3T MRI at term equivalent age. There were group differences in peak width of skeletonized mean, axial, and radial diffusivities (PSMD, PSAD, PSRD), orientation dispersion index (PSODI) and neurite dispersion index (PSNDI), all