Predicting developmental outcomes in preterm infants: A simple white matter injury imaging rule

OBJECTIVETo develop a simple imaging rule to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes at 4.5 years in a cohort of preterm neonates with white matter injury (WMI) based on lesion location and examine whether clinical variables enhance prediction. METHODSSixty-eight preterm neonates born 24–32 weeksʼ gestation (median 27.7 weeks) were diagnosed with WMI on early brain MRI scans (median 32.3 weeks). 3D T1-weighted images of 60 neonates with 4.5-year outcomes were reformatted and aligned to the posterior commissure–eye plane and WMI was classified by locationanterior or posterior-only to the midventricle line on the reformatted axial plane. Adverse outcomes at 4.5 years were defined as Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence full-scale IQ