Altered microstructural connectivity of the superior and middle cerebellar peduncles are related to motor dysfunction in children with diffuse periventricular leucomalacia born preterm: a DTI tractography study.

PURPOSE: To investigate the microstructural integrity of superior cerebellar peduncles (SCP) and middle cerebellar peduncles (MCP) by using DTI tractography method, and further to detect whether the microstructural integrity of these major cerebellar pathways is related to motor function in children with diffuse periventricular leucomalacia (PVL) born preterm.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 46 children with diffuse PVL (30 males and 16 females; age range 3-48 months; mean age 22.4 ± 6.7 months; mean gestational age 30.5 ± 2.2 weeks) and 40 healthy controls (27 males and 13 females; age range 3.5-48 months; mean age 22.1 ± 5.8 months) were enrolled in this study. DTI outcome measurements, fractional anisotropy (FA), for the SCP, MCP and cortical spinal tract (CST) were calculated. The gross motor function classification system (GMFCS) was used for assessing motor functions.

RESULTS: Compared to the controls, patients with diffuse PVL had a significantly lower FA in bilateral SCP, MCP and CST. There was a significant negative correlation between GMFCS levels and FA in bilateral SCP, MCP and CST in the patients group. In addition, significant inverse correlation of FA value was found between not only the contralateral but also the ipsilateral CST and SCP/MCP.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that the injury of SCP and MCP may contribute to the motor dysfunction of diffuse PVL. Moreover, the correlations we found between supratentorial and subtentorial injured white matter extend our knowledge about the cerebro-cerebellar white matter interaction in children with diffuse PVL.