• Satoshi Kidowaki, Masafumi Morimoto, Kei Yamada, Koji Sakai, Masashi Zuiki, Hiroshi Maeda, Satoshi Yamashita, Takashi Morita, Tatsuji Hasegawa, Tomohiro Chiyonobu, Sachiko Tokuda, and Hajime Hosoi.
• Department of Pediatrics, Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kajii-cho Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 602-8566, Japan.
• Brain Dev. 2017 Jan 1; 39 (1): 40-47.

PurposeWe used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to evaluate longitudinal changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) of white matter tracts in preterm infants without abnormal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings. Imaging was conducted at term equivalent age (TEA) and 1year of corrected age. Furthermore, we assessed correlations between FA and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 3years of corrected age to investigate brain prematurity of preterm infants without MRI abnormalities.MethodsPreterm infants underwent serial MRI at TEA and 1year of corrected age. Of these, 13 infants entered a retrospective study, undergoing neurodevelopmental assessment at 3years of corrected age. These infants were divided into two groups depending on gestational age (GA): <26weeks and ⩾26weeks. DTI-based tractography was performed to obtain the FA of the motor tract, sensory tract, superior cerebellar peduncle, middle cerebellar peduncle, and corpus callosum. FA was compared between two groups, and correlations between FA and neurodevelopmental outcomes were assessed.ResultsFA of the splenium at TEA was significantly different between the two groups divided according to GA. However, this difference was no longer observed at 1year of corrected age. There was no correlation between FA of the splenium at TEA and neurodevelopmental assessment scores at 3years of corrected age.ConclusionsAt TEA, FA of the splenium was lower in younger GA infants without MRI abnormalities, but this may not affect subsequent neurodevelopmental outcomes.Copyright © 2016 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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