Very low birth weight (VLBW) children are at high risk of perinatal white matter injury, which, when subtle, may not be seen using conventional magnetic resonance imaging. The relationship between clinical findings and fractional anisotropy (FA) measurements in white matter of adolescents born prematurely with VLBW was studied in 34 subjects (age = 15 years, birth weight

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric symptoms and disorders associated with low birth weight. Design/study groups: A population based follow up study of 56 very low birthweight (VLBW: birth weight ( 1500 g), 60 term small for gestational age (SGA: birth weight , 10th centile), and 83 term control (birth weight > 10th centile) children at 14 years of age. Outcome measures: Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school aged children, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rating scale IV, autism spectrum screening questionnaire, and children's global assessment scale. Results: VLBW adolescents had a higher prevalence of psychiatric symptoms (46%) than controls (13%) (odds ratio (OR) 5.7, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.5 to 13.0) and more psychiatric disorders (25%) than controls (7%) (OR 4.3, 95%CI 1.5 to 12.0), especially anxiety disorders. Although 25% of the VLBW adolescents had attention problems, ADHD was diagnosed in only 7%. Four VLBW adolescents had symptoms of Asperger's disorder, and the VLBW group had a higher sum score than controls on the autism spectrum screening questionnaire. Although more SGA adolescents had psychiatric symptoms than controls (23% v 13%), the difference was not statistically significant. Results remained essentially the same when adolescents with low estimated intelligence quotient were excluded, and persisted after possible psychosocial confounders had been controlled for. Conclusion: VLBW, but not SGA adolescents, have a high risk of developing psychiatric symptoms and disorders by the age of 14, especially attention deficit, anxiety symptoms, and relational problems.

Infants with low birth weight are at increased risk of perinatal brain injury. Disruption of normal cortical development may have consequences for later motor, behavioural and cognitive development. The aim of this study was to measure cerebral cortical thickness, area and volume with an automated MRI technique in 15-year-old adolescents who had low birth weight. Cerebral MRI for morphometric analysis was performed on 50 very low birth weight (VLBW, birth weight