Abstract #3027

Altered global white matter microstructure and structural brain connectivity in children born with extremely low birth weight

Ulrika Roine^1,2, Timo Roine^1,3, Viena Tommiska⁴, Terhi Ahola⁴, Aulikko Lano⁴, Taina Autti¹, and Vineta Fellman^4,5

¹HUS Medical Imaging Center, Radiology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland, ²Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland, ³Turku Brain and Mind Center, University of Turku, Turku, Finland, ⁴Children´s Hospital, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland, ⁵Pediatrics, Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

Using diffusion MRI, we investigated white matter microstructure and structural brain connectivity in 11-year old children born with extremely low birth weight (ELBW) in comparison with full-term born children. Microstructural white matter properties were investigated within the tract skeleton, and constrained spherical deconvolution based probabilistic tractography and gray matter parcellation were used to reconstruct structural brain connectivity networks. We found decreased integrity and complexity of the white matter microstructure in ELBW, and increased segregation of the structural brain connectivity networks. In addition, the microstructural changes were associated with the administration of antenatal corticosteroids and with retinopathy of prematurity.

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