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Abstract #0733

3D MRSI of the Premature Brain: Defining Normal and Abnormal Maturational Changes

Charlton N, Vigneron D, Xu D, Barkovich A, Mukherjee P, Kim D, Miller S, Veeraraghavan S
University of California

In this study, lactate-edited 3D MRSI was applied in a large (N=97exams) population of premature infants to define the anatomic and maturational changes in infants with normal 1-year neurodevelopmental outcome and to investigate metabolic abnormalities in those with poor neurodevelopmental outcome. NAA/CHO levels were found to increase significantly with age in all anatomic regions with varying rates. The infants with very poor outcome demonstrated abnormal LAC/NAA and LAC/CHO ratios at least 2.5 standard deviations above the means defined in the age-matched normative data.