MRI for Neonates

BACKGROUND: Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), caused due to reduced oxygenation and brain blood flow, occurs in 1-8 per 1000 live full-term births in developed countries and up to 26 per 1000 live in the developing world. The growth status of survivors of birth HIE has not been evaluated sufficiently. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated, the growth parameters (weight, height, and head circumference) of neonates with Sarnat stage.2 of HIE at 6, 10, and 12 months and its relationship with findings of neonatal brain diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequence...

Hypopituitarism (or pituitary deficiency) is a rare disease with an estimated prevalence of between 1/16,000 and 1/26,000 individuals, defined by insufficient production of one or several anterior pituitary hormones (growth hormone [GH], thyroid-stimulating hormone [TSH], adrenocorticotropic hormone [ACTH], luteinizing hormone [LH], follicle-stimulating hormone [FSH], prolactin), in association or not with diabetes insipidus (antidiuretic hormone [ADH] deficiency). While in adults hypopituitarism is mostly an acquired disease (tumors, irradiation), in children it is most often a congenital condition, due to abnormal pituitary development...

Premature infants lack a normal intestinal microbial community and also at risk of perinatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury, which is considered to be one of the major factors for motor, sensory, and cognitive deficits. We hypothesized that neonatal gut microbiota composition modulated the immune reaction and severity of neonatal H-I brain injury. Neonatal C57BL/6J mouse pups were exposed to H-I protocol consisting of permanent left carotid artery ligation, followed by 8% hypoxia for 60 min. Microbial manipulation groups included 1) antibiotic treatment, E18 (maternal) to P5; 2) antibiotic treatment E18 to P5 + E...

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We examined associations of white matter injury (WMI) and periventricular hemorrhagic infarction (PVHI) volume and location with 18-month neurodevelopment in very preterm infants. METHODS: A total of 254 infants born <32 weeks' gestational age were prospectively recruited across 3 tertiary neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Infants underwent early-life (median 33.1 weeks) and/or term-equivalent-age (median 41.9 weeks) MRI. WMI and PVHI were manually segmented for quantification in 92 infants...

Malformations of cortical development (MCDs) are caused by abnormal neuronal migration processes during the fetal period and are a major cause of intractable epilepsy in infancy. However, the timing of hyperexcitability or epileptogenesis in MCDs remains unclear. To identify the early developmental changes in the brain of the MCD rat model, which exhibits increased seizure susceptibility during infancy (P12-15), we analyzed the pathological changes in the brains of MCD model rats during the neonatal period and tested NMDA-induced seizure susceptibility...

BACKGROUND: Maternal Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has been associated with an increased risk of adverse birth outcomes. We hypothesized that active disease during conception and pregnancy plays an important role in this context, which this study aims to address. METHODS: We used the Danish registers to conduct a nationwide cohort study. Information on maternal disease activity during pregnancy was retrieved using proxies from the linked registers (hospitalization, magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, and use of systemic corticosteroids during pregnancy)...

Premature birth or complications during labor can cause temporary disruption of cerebral blood flow, often followed by long-term disturbances in brain development called hypoxic-ischemic (HI) encephalopathy. Diffuse damage to the white matter is the most frequently detected pathology in this condition. We hypothesized that oligodendrocyte progenitor cell (OPC) differentiation disturbed by mild neonatal asphyxia may affect the viability, maturation, and physiological functioning of oligodendrocytes. To address this issue, we studied the effect of temporal HI in the in vivo model in P7 rats with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), microscopy techniques and biochemical analyses...

Neonatal Encephalopathy (NE) is a major cause of lifelong disability and neurological complications in affected infants. Identifying novel diagnostic biomarkers in this population may assist in predicting MRI injury and differentiate neonates with NE from those with low-cord pH or healthy neonates and may help clinicians make real-time decisions. To compare the microRNA (miRNA) profiles between neonates with NE, healthy controls, and neonates with low cord pH. Moreover, miRNA concentrations were compared to brain injury severity in neonates with NE...

OBJECTIVES: To date, the majority of research on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) in the developing brain has primarily centered on adolescents and adults, leaving a gap in understanding variations in spontaneous brain activity at rest in preterm infants. This study aimed to uncover and comprehend the distinctions in spontaneous brain activity between preterm and term infants, with the goal of establishing a foundation for assessing the condition of preterm infants...

Filial imprinting, a crucial ethological paradigm, provides insights into the neurobiology of early learning and its long-term impact on behaviour. To date, only invasive techniques, such as autoradiography or lesion, have been employed to understand this behaviour. The primary limitation of these methods lies in their constrained access to the entire brain, impeding the exploration of brain networks crucial at various stages of this paradigm. Recently, advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the avian brain have opened new windows to explore bird's brain function at the network level...

BACKGROUND: Non-polio enteroviruses (EV) and human parechoviruses (HPeV) are known etiological agents of meningoencephalitis in neonates. However, reports of neuroradiological findings and neurodevelopmental outcomes in this population are scarce. OBJECTIVES: to describe clinical characteristics, neuroradiological findings and, in a subset of patients, neurodevelopmental outcomes in a cohort of infants with EV or HPeV meningoencephalitis within 60 days of life. STUDY DESIGN: clinical/laboratory data, neuroradiological findings (cranial ultrasound, cUS, brain magnetic resonance imaging, MRI), and neurodevelopmental outcomes assessed by Ages and Stages Questionnaires - third edition were prospectively collected...

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) can be diagnosed prenatally and its severity assessed by fetal imaging. The prognosis of a fetus with CDH is based on whether or not the hernia is isolated, the measurement of lung volume on ultrasound and MRI, and the position of the liver. The birth of a child with CDH should take place in a center adapted to the care of such children, and in accordance with the recommendations defined by the French National Diagnosis and Care Protocol. It has recently been demonstrated that for moderate and severe forms of CDH, tracheal occlusion using a balloon placed in utero by fetoscopy (FETO) increases survival until discharge from the neonatal unit, but at the cost of an increased risk of prematurity...

OBJECTIVES: To observe hyperechoic nodular or punctate white matter lesions (HNPL) in a population of preterm infants using routine cranial ultrasound (cUS), to describe the characteristics of HNPL, and to compare them with punctate white matter lesions (PWML) detected in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). DESIGN: Retrospective observational single-center cohort study. SETTING: Level 2B neonatal unit in France. PATIENTS: 307 infants born <33 weeks gestation undergoing routine cUS with a total of 961 cUS performed...

The delineation of cortical areas on magnetic resonance images (MRI) is important for understanding the complexities of the developing human brain. The previous version of the Melbourne Children's Regional Infant Brain (M-CRIB-S) (Adamson et al. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 10, 2020) is a software package that performs whole-brain segmentation, cortical surface extraction and parcellation of the neonatal brain. Available cortical parcellation schemes in the M-CRIB-S are the adult-compatible 34- and 31-region per hemisphere Desikan-Killiany (DK) and Desikan-Killiany-Tourville (DKT), respectively...

Parechovirus (HpEV) and Enterovirus (EV) infections in children mostly have a mild course but are particularly fearsome in newborns in whom they may cause aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, and myocarditis. Our study aimed to describe the clinical presentations and peculiarities of CNS infection by HpEV and EV in neonates. This is a single-center retrospective study at Istituto Gaslini, Genoa, Italy. Infants aged ≤ 30 days with a CSF RTq-PCR positive for EV or HpEV from January 1, 2022, to December 1, 2023, were enrolled...

IMPORTANCE: Early-life exposure to painful procedures has been associated with altered brain maturation and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants, although sex-specific differences are largely unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine sex-specific associations among early-life pain exposure, alterations in neonatal structural connectivity, and 18-month neurodevelopment in preterm infants. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This prospective cohort study recruited 193 very preterm infants from April 1, 2015, to April 1, 2019, across 2 tertiary neonatal intensive care units in Toronto, Canada...

OBJECTIVE: Bronchogenic cysts are rare congenital abnormalities, and usually asymptomatic until adulthood. We present a fetus prenatally diagnosed with a bronchogenic cyst, experiencing compression symptoms immediately after birth and underwent thoracoscopic surgery at 14 days old. CASE REPORT: A 33-year-old primigravida had a suspicion of fetal tracheal cyst. Prenatal ultrasound scan revealed a cyst near the trachea at 23 weeks' gestation. Fetal MRI defined a cystic lesion in the upper mediastinum, displacing surrounding vessels...

BACKGROUND: The mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) is a key brain area for regulation of energy balance. Previous neuroimaging studies suggest that T2-based signal properties indicative of cellular inflammatory response (gliosis) are present in adults and children with obesity, and predicts greater adiposity gain in children at risk of obesity. OBJECTIVES/METHODS: The current study aimed to extend this concept to the early life period by considering if, in full-term healthy neonates (up to n = 35), MRI evidence of MBH gliosis is associated with changes in early life (neonatal to six months) body fat percentage measured by DXA...

BACKGROUND: Giant congenital biliary dilation (CBD) is a rare condition observed in clinical practice. Infants born with this condition often experience a poor overall health status, and the disease progresses rapidly, leading to severe biliary obstruction, infections, pressure exerted by the enlarged CBD on abdominal organs, disturbances in the internal environment, and multiple organ dysfunction. The treatment of giant CBD using laparoscopy is challenging due to the high degree of variation in the shape of the bile duct and other organs, making it difficult to separate the bile duct wall from adjacent tissues or to control bleeding...

The brain development during the perinatal period is characterized by rapid changes in both structure and function, which have significant impact on the cognitive and behavioral abilities later in life. Accurate assessment of brain age is a crucial indicator for brain development maturity and can help predict the risk of neonatal pathology. However, evaluating neonatal brains using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is challenging due to its complexity, multi-dimension, and noise with subtle alterations. In this paper, we propose a multi-modal deep learning framework based on transformers for precise post-menstrual age (PMA) estimation and brain development analysis using T2-weighted structural MRI (T2-sMRI) and diffusion MRI (dMRI) data...