Abstract #0895

White matter diffusion properties at term equivalent age are associated with subsequent motor performance in infants born preterm

Diliana Pecheva¹, Hui Zhang², Madeleine Barnett¹, Andrew Chew¹, Shona Falconer ¹, Mary Rutherford¹, Nigel Kinnea³, Joseph V. Hajnal¹, Daniel C. Alexander², A. David Edwards¹, and Serena J. Counsell¹

¹Centre for the Developing Brain, Division of Imaging Sciences & Biomedical Engineering, King's Collge London, London, United Kingdom, ²Centre for Medical Image Computing, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, United Kingdom, ³Neonatal Unit, St Georges Hospital NHS Trust, London, United Kingdom

Preterm birth is associated with a high prevalence of neuro-motor impairment. We studied the relationship between motor function at two years and DTI measures in white matter (WM) fasciculi at term equivalent age using tract specific analysis in 109 preterm infants. Motor performance was significantly positively correlated with FA and negatively correlated with RD and MD in the corticospinal tract (CST) and corpus collosum (CC). DTI measures in other tracts were not related to motor function, suggesting a specific relationship between WM in the CST and CC and motor ability in this vulnerable group.

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