Adolescents who were born very preterm have decreased brain volumes
Abstract
Infants born very preterm have an increased risk of brain injury. Given the great increase in the number of such infants that are surviving, it is important to establish whether any resultant brain abnormalities persist into adolescence and adult life. We therefore examined in vivo whole brain, grey matter, white matter and hippocampal volumes, ventricular size and grey/white matter ratios in a series of adolescents who had been born very preterm, and an age-matched full-term control group. Structural MRI was carried out on a cohort of 72 adolescents (mean age 15 years) who were born before 33 weeks, and 48 age-matched full-term controls. Brain measurements were made blind to group affiliation using stereological principles. After controlling for gender and height, the very preterm subjects showed a 6.0% decrease in whole brain volume, and an 11.8% decrease in cortical grey matter volume, as well as a 15.6% decrease in right and a 12.1% decrease in left hippocampal volumes; they also had a 42.0% increase in the size of the lateral ventricles. Therefore, individuals who were born very preterm continue to show noticeable decrements in brain volumes and striking increases in lateral ventricular volume into adolescence. The functional significance of these abnormalities merits further investigation.
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In humans, low birth weight and preterm birth are linked to regional brain volume changes.
“Thus, low birth weight as well as preterm birth have been related to changes in regional brain volumes (e.g. Peterson et al., 2000; Abernethy et al., 2002; Nosarti et al., 2002; Huizink et al., 2004; Buss et al., 2007; Beauchamp et al., 2008).”
From High pregnancy anxiety during mid-gestation is associated with decreased gray matter density in 6-9-year-old children. (2010) · cites this paper as Nosarti et al., 2002
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- Authors
- Nosarti, C.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Nosarti, C.
- ORCID
- Nosarti, C.
- Venue
- Brain
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2002-07-01
- Volume
- 125
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1616-1623
- ISSN
- 0006-8950 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2156
- OpenAlex
- W2131014005
- Cited by
- 406
- References
- 32
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 21 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 24
- FWCI
- 15.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Brain (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Neonatal and fetal brain pathology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Infant Development and Preterm Care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Keywords
- very preterm birth, brain volume, adolescents, gray matter volume, white matter volume, hippocampal volume, lateral ventricle enlargement, brain injury, brain development, stereology
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Aging, Birth Weight, Brain, Cephalometry, Echoencephalography, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Gestational Age, Head, Humans, Infant, Newborn, Infant, Premature, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Reference Values, Cohort Studies, Sex Distribution, Infant, Very Low Birth Weight
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