Zoltan Nagy1, Saad Jbabdi2, Jesper Andersson3, Stefan Skare4, Hugo Lagercrantz5
1Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK; 2FMRIB, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK; 3FMRIB, Oxford University, Oxford, UK; 4Lucas MRS/I Center, Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, USA; 5Department of Woman and Child Health, Kaolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
Preterm birth has been identified as a risk factor for long-term morphological and cognitive development. However, it is also known that differences exist between cohorts and that neonatal practice and socioeconomic status can be important factors in the outcome. We investigated 74 ex-preterm and 69 term-born adolescents at a mean age of 15 years using tract-based spatial statistics and found that fractional anisotropy was lower in the ex-preterm group in the corpus callosum, fornix and external capsules. However, when compared to previous studies the outcome is milder.