OC06.01: Quantitative MRI analyses of regional brain growth and cerebral sulcal development in living fetuses with isolated ventriculomegaly and Down's syndrome
Year: 2018
Type: conference-abstract
Abstract: Fetuses with isolated cerebral ventriculomegaly (IVM) and Down's syndrome (DS) share common neuroimaging (fetal sonographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) features of mild to moderate ventriculomegaly despite distinct neurodevelopment differences after birth. We hypothesised that fetuses with IVM and DS have distinct brain development features detected with non-invasive, quantitative fetal (qf) MRI. Pregnant women who had fetuses diagnosed with IVM (n=10, 25.8±5.2 week of gestation, mean±SD) or DS (n=10, 29.1±4.2) were recruited prospectively. Healthy pregnant women carrying fetuses without apparent medical conditions were recruited as controls (n=10, 25.5±5.3). IVM was diagnosed when fetal MRI showed ventriculomegaly without associated anomalies. Fetuses with DS were recruited when either cell-free DNA screens were positive or karyotype/chromosomal microarrays were diagnostic. Conventional fetal MR images were processed for post-acquisition qfMRI analyses, including regional volumetric analyses and Similarity Index based sulcal pattern matching/similarity analyses. Statistical analysis was performed using non-linear regression model to compare fitted regional growth curves between conditions and two-sample t-test to compare similarity indices, with significance set at 0.05. In fetuses with DS, fitted growth curves of cerebellar hemispheres and subcortical parenchyma (white matter and basal ganglia) showed smaller growth curves compared to controls. In contrast, fetuses with IVM had significantly larger growth curves in cortical plate and subcortical parenchyma compared to the controls. In the sulcal pattern analysis, fetuses with DS had altered absolute cerebral sulcal positions and relative intersulcal positional relationships compared to the control. Surface analysis of IVM is ongoing. qfMRI detected distinct regional growth curves in the second and third trimester fetuses with IVM and DS. Fetuses with DS have distinct sulcal development compared to controls.
DOI: 10.1002/uog.19239
Authors: T. Tarui, K. Im, N. Madan, G. Graham, R. Madankumar, B. Skotko, A. Schwartz, C. Sharr, R. Steven, O. Samura, R. Kitano, A. Craig, E. Grant, D. Bianchi
Institutions: Tufts Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, University of Pennsylvania, Jikei University School of Medicine, Tsuchiura Kyodo General Hospital, Maine Medical Center, National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2895879170