Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2017, Vol. 12 ›› Issue (4): 603-609.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.205102

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Diffusion tensor imaging assesses white matter injury in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy

Hong-xin Li1, 2, Xing Feng1, Qian Wang3, Xuan Dong4, Min Yu5, Wen-juan Tu2   

  1. 1 Department of Neonatology, Children’s Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China; 2 Department of Neonatology, Changzhou Children’s Hospital, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China; 3 School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China; 4 Department of Children’s Health Research Center, Changzhou Children’s Hospital, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China; 5 Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, Chin
  • Received:2017-02-13 Online:2017-04-15 Published:2017-04-15
  • Contact: Xing Feng, M.D., xing_feng66@hotmail.com.
  • Supported by:

    This study was supported by a grant from the Clinical Medicine Science and Technology Projects in Jiangsu Province of China, No. BL2014037; a grant from the Changzhou City Science and Technology Support Plan in China, No. CE20165027; a grant from the Changzhou Health Development Planning Commission Major Projects in China, No. ZD201515; the Changzhou High-Level Health Personnel Training Project Funding.

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Abstract:

With improvements in care of at-risk neonates, more and more children survive. This makes it increasingly important to assess, soon after birth, the prognosis of children with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Computed tomography, ultrasound, and conventional magnetic resonance imaging are helpful to diagnose brain injury, but cannot quantify white matter damage. In this study, ten full-term infants without brain injury and twenty-two full-term neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (14 moderate cases and 8 severe cases) underwent diffusion tensor imaging to assess its feasibility in evaluating white matter damage in this condition. Results demonstrated that fractional anisotropy, voxel volume, and number of fiber bundles were different in some brain areas between infants with brain injury and those without brain injury. The correlation between fractional anisotropy values and neonatal behavioral neurological assessment scores was closest in the posterior limbs of the internal capsule. We conclude that diffusion tensor imaging can quantify white matter injury in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

Key words: nerve regeneration, fractional anisotropy, diffusion tensor imaging, apparent diffusion coefficient, voxel volume, neonatal behavioral neurological assessment, brain injury, white matter, neuroimaging, neural regeneration