Ventricular shape and relative position abnormalities in preterm neonates

Abstract

Recent neuroimaging findings have highlighted the impact of premature birth on subcortical development and morphological changes in the deep grey nuclei and ventricular system. To help characterize subcortical microstructural changes in preterm neonates, we recently implemented a multivariate tensor-based method (mTBM). This method allows to precisely measure local surface deformation of brain structures in infants. Here, we investigated ventricular abnormalities and their spatial relationships with surrounding subcortical structures in preterm neonates. We performed regional group comparisons on the surface morphometry and relative position of the lateral ventricles between 19 full-term and 17 preterm born neonates at term-equivalent age. Furthermore, a relative pose analysis was used to detect individual differences in translation, rotation, and scale of a given brain structure with respect to an average. Our mTBM results revealed broad areas of alterations on the frontal horn and body of the left ventricle, and narrower areas of differences on the temporal horn of the right ventricle. A significant shift in the rotation of the left ventricle was also found in preterm neonates. Furthermore, we located significant correlations between morphology and pose parameters of the lateral ventricles and that of the putamen and thalamus. These results show that regional abnormalities on the surface and pose of the ventricles are also associated with alterations on the putamen and thalamus. The complementarity of the information provided by the surface and pose analysis may help to identify abnormal white and grey matter growth, hinting toward a pattern of neural and cellular dysmaturation.

Heterogeneity in Brain Microstructural Development Following Preterm Birth

“…The greatest consistency in preterm MD+ deviations was in the regions adjacent to the lateral ventricles, but even in this region only 13 of 82 infants showed significant abnormalities. Enlargement of the ventricles and alterations to their shape and relative position are often observed in preterm infants imaged at term-equivalent age ( Brouwer et al 2012 ; Paquette et al 2017 ). These, combined with other brain morphological alterations such as dolichocephalic head configuration ( McCarty et al 2017 ), might pose a certain challenge for image registration ( Mewes et al 2007 ).…”

Applying surface-based hippocampal morphometry to study APOE-E4 allele dose effects in cognitively unimpaired subjects

“…1 . With FIRST in the FMRIB Software Library (FSL), hippocampal structures were segmented in the MNI152 standard space ( Patenaude et al, 2011 ; Paquette et al, 2017 ) (see Fig. 1 A).…”

The Lateral Ventricles: A Detailed Review of Anatomy, Development, and Anatomic Variations

“…41,43,47,48 The shape of the lateral ventricles has also been investigated extensively, with multiple studies classifying various lateral ventricular morphologies and rotational differences. 42,[51][52][53] The occipital horn of the lateral ventricle seems to be the most inconsistent portion, which can range from being completely absent to being present in variable lengths ( Fig 6B). 33,48,54 The temporal horn, especially the anterior tip, is also variable in shape but to a lesser extent compared with the occipital horn.…”

“…On the basis of the association of ventricular morphologic abnormalities due to underlying white matter damage, it has been suggested that mild ventricular asymmetries may be a sign of subtle white matter or deep gray matter abnormalities that may not be seen on imaging. Paquette et al 51 proposed that differences in the left lateral ventricle in preterm neonates may be related to subcortical white matter alterations, suggesting subcortical vulnerability to preterm birth. 42 Sadan et al 56 studied fetuses with normal-sized-but-asymmetric ventricles (defined as width of , 10 mm and a difference in width of .…”