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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurol.
Sec. Pediatric Neurology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1427273
This article is part of the Research Topic Recent Advances in Pediatric Neuroradiology View all 4 articles

Thalamic volume in very preterm infants: associations with severe brain injury and neurodevelopmental outcome at two years

Provisionally accepted
Emiliano Trimarco Emiliano Trimarco 1*Bahram Jafrasteh Bahram Jafrasteh 1Natalia Jimenez Luque Natalia Jimenez Luque 1Yolanda Marín Almagro Yolanda Marín Almagro 1Macarena Roman Ruiz Macarena Roman Ruiz 1Manuel Lubián Gutiérrez Manuel Lubián Gutiérrez 1,2Estefanía Ruiz González Estefanía Ruiz González 1,2Antonio Segado-Arenas Antonio Segado-Arenas 1,2Simon P. Lubián-Lopez Simon P. Lubián-Lopez 1,2Isabel Benavente-Fernández Isabel Benavente-Fernández 1,2,3
  • 1 Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation of Cádiz, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain
  • 2 Hospital Universitario Puerta del Mar, Cadiz, Spain
  • 3 Faculty of Medicine, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Several studies demonstrate the relationship between preterm birth and a reduced thalamus volume at term-equivalent age. In contrast, this study aims to investigate the link between the thalamic growth trajectory during the early postnatal period and neurodevelopment at two years of age. Thalamic volume was extracted from 84 early MRI scans at postmenstrual age of 32.33 (± 2.63) weeks and 93 term-equivalent age MRI scans at postmenstrual age of 42.05 (± 3.33) weeks of 116 very preterm infants (56% male) with gestational age at birth of 29.32 (± 2.28) weeks and a birth weight of 1158.92 (± 348.59) grams. Cognitive, motor, and language outcomes at two years of age were assessed with Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development Third Edition.Bivariate analysis was used to describe the clinical variables according to neurodevelopmental outcomes and multilevel linear regression models were used to examine the impact of these variables on thalamic volume and its relationship with neurodevelopmental outcomes. The results suggest an association between severe brain injury and thalamic growth trajectory (β coef=-0.611; p < 0.001). Moreover, thalamic growth trajectory during early postnatal life was associated with the three subscale scores of the neurodevelopmental assessment (cognitive: β coef=6.297; p=0.004; motor: β coef =7.283; p=0.001; language: β coeficient=9.053; p=0.002). These findings highlight (i) the impact of severe brain injury on thalamic growth trajectory during early extrauterine life after preterm birth and (ii) the relationship of thalamic growth trajectory with cognitive, motor, and language outcomes.

    Keywords: Thalamus, preterm infants, neurodevelopment, Brain Injury, MRI

    Received: 03 May 2024; Accepted: 24 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Trimarco, Jafrasteh, Jimenez Luque, Marín Almagro, Roman Ruiz, Lubián Gutiérrez, Ruiz González, Segado-Arenas, Lubián-Lopez and Benavente-Fernández. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Emiliano Trimarco, Institute for Biomedical Research and Innovation of Cádiz, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain

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