White and grey matter development in utero assessed using motion-corrected diffusion tensor imaging and its comparison to ex utero measures
File(s)
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Objective
Fetal brain diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) offers quantitative analysis of the developing brain. The objective was to 1) quantify DTI measures across gestation in a cohort of fetuses without brain abnormalities using full retrospective correction for fetal head motion 2) compare results obtained in utero to those in preterm infants.
Materials and methods
Motion-corrected DTI analysis was performed on data sets obtained at 1.5T from 32 fetuses scanned between 21.29 and 37.57 (median 31.86) weeks. Results were compared to 32 preterm infants scanned at 3T between 27.43 and 37.14 (median 33.07) weeks. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were quantified by region of interest measurements and tractography was performed.
Results
Fetal DTI was successful in 84% of fetuses for whom there was sufficient data for DTI estimation, and at least one tract could be obtained in 25 cases. Fetal FA values increased and ADC values decreased with age at scan (PLIC FA: p = 0.001; R2 = 0.469; slope = 0.011; splenium FA: p < 0.001; R2 = 0.597; slope = 0.019; thalamus ADC: p = 0.001; R2 = 0.420; slope = − 0.023); similar trends were found in preterm infants.
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that stable DTI is feasible on fetuses and provides evidence for normative values of diffusion properties that are consistent with aged matched preterm infants.
Fetal brain diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) offers quantitative analysis of the developing brain. The objective was to 1) quantify DTI measures across gestation in a cohort of fetuses without brain abnormalities using full retrospective correction for fetal head motion 2) compare results obtained in utero to those in preterm infants.
Materials and methods
Motion-corrected DTI analysis was performed on data sets obtained at 1.5T from 32 fetuses scanned between 21.29 and 37.57 (median 31.86) weeks. Results were compared to 32 preterm infants scanned at 3T between 27.43 and 37.14 (median 33.07) weeks. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were quantified by region of interest measurements and tractography was performed.
Results
Fetal DTI was successful in 84% of fetuses for whom there was sufficient data for DTI estimation, and at least one tract could be obtained in 25 cases. Fetal FA values increased and ADC values decreased with age at scan (PLIC FA: p = 0.001; R2 = 0.469; slope = 0.011; splenium FA: p < 0.001; R2 = 0.597; slope = 0.019; thalamus ADC: p = 0.001; R2 = 0.420; slope = − 0.023); similar trends were found in preterm infants.
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that stable DTI is feasible on fetuses and provides evidence for normative values of diffusion properties that are consistent with aged matched preterm infants.
Date Issued
2019-08-01
Date Acceptance
2019-02-03
Citation
Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine, 2019, 32 (4), pp.473-485
ISSN
0968-5243
Publisher
Springer Verlag
Start Page
473
End Page
485
Journal / Book Title
Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine
Volume
32
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Identifier
http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000476510700006&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
Diffusion tensor imaging
Infant
Premature
Fetus
Magnetic resonance imaging
MICROSTRUCTURAL DEVELOPMENT
PRETERM INFANTS
SPATIAL STATISTICS
SCATTERED DATA
FETAL-BRAIN
RECONSTRUCTION
TRACTOGRAPHY
REGISTRATION
MATURATION
ANISOTROPY
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2019-03-12