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Abstract #1970

Correlation of emotional-behavioral outcomes and white matter alterations in VLBW adolescents without overt disability

Ming-Chung Chou 1 , Ming-Ting Wu 2,3 , Hsiu-Lin Chen 4 , Yu-Chen Wu 1 , and Pinchen Yang 5

1 Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 2 Department of Radiology, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 3 School of Medicine, National Yang Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, 4 Department of Pediatrics & Department of Respiratory Therapy, Kaohsiung Medical University & Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 5 Department of Psychiatry, Kaohsiung Medical University & Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan

In humans, birth weight generally correlates to gestational age and is easy to determine. Preterm infants are vulnerable to brain injuries, and brain injury due to prematurity and impaired brain development are inextricably intertwined. Nevertheless, there are few long-term brain MRI reports of adolescence born VLBW without overt neurological or mental disability. This study performed emotional-behavioral assessments and voxel-based DTI analysis in adolescents born VLBW without overt physical or mental disability. The results showed significant differences in DTI indices and emotional-behavioral outcomes between VLBW adolescents and control subjects. Therefore, we concluded that subtle WM alterations were significantly associated with emotional-behavioral measures in VLBW adolescents without overt disability.

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