• Brandon T Craig, Alicia Hilderley, Eli Kinney-Lang, Xiangyu Long, Helen L Carlson, and Adam Kirton.
• From the Calgary Pediatric Stroke Program (B.T.C., A.H., E.K.-L., H.L.C., A.K.); and Hotchkiss Brain Institute (B.T.C., A.H., E.K.-L., X.L., H.L.C., A.K.), Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute (B.T.C., A.H., E.K.-L., X.L., H.L.C., A.K.), and Departments of Pediatrics (H.L.C., A.K.) and Clinical Neuroscience (A.K.), Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Canada.
• Neurology. 2020 Nov 3; 95 (18): e2476-e2486.

ObjectiveTo employ diffusion imaging connectome methods to explore network development in the contralesional hemisphere of children with perinatal stroke and its relationship to clinical function. We hypothesized alterations in global efficiency of the intact hemisphere would correlate with clinical disability.MethodsChildren with unilateral perinatal arterial (n = 26) or venous (n = 27) stroke and typically developing controls (n = 32) underwent 3T diffusion and T1 anatomical MRI and completed established motor assessments. A validated atlas coregistered to whole-brain tractography for each individual was used to estimate connectivity between 47 regions. Graph theory metrics (assortativity, hierarchical coefficient of regression, global and local efficiency, and small worldness) were calculated for the left hemisphere of controls and the intact contralesioned hemisphere of both stroke groups. Validated clinical motor assessments were then correlated with connectivity outcomes.ResultsGlobal efficiency was higher in arterial strokes compared to venous strokes (p < 0.001) and controls (p < 0.001) and was inversely associated with all motor assessments (all p < 0.012). Additional graph theory metrics including assortativity, hierarchical coefficient of regression, and local efficiency also demonstrated consistent differences in the intact hemisphere associated with clinical function.ConclusionsThe structural connectome of the contralesional hemisphere is altered after perinatal stroke and correlates with clinical function. Connectomics represents a powerful tool to understand whole brain developmental plasticity in children with disease-specific cerebral palsy.© 2020 American Academy of Neurology.

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