Abstract #1250

Investigating the Long-Term Effects of Preterm Birth on Brain Volume Development Using Voxel-Based Morphometry of MRI Data

Zoltan Nagy¹, John Ashburner¹, Bogdan Drakanski¹, Hugo Lagercrantz²

¹Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London, UK; ²Department 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 voxel-based morhpometry and found that grey matter was smaller in the ex-preterm group in the temporal lobe, basal ganglia as well as the parietal, frontal and orbitofrontal corteces. However, when compared to previous studies the outcome is milder.