UP - logo
E-resources
Peer reviewed Open access
  • The visibility of the periv...
    Bunoza, Branka; Nina, Barišić; Grđan Stevanović, Petra; Bogdanić, Ana; Benjak, Vesna; Grizelj, Ruža; Turudić, Daniel; Milošević, Danko; Radoš, Marko

    Croatian Medical Journal, 04/2021, Volume: 62, Issue: 2
    Journal Article, Paper

    To evaluate the relationship between the neurological outcome, neonatal epileptic seizures, and signal-intensity visibility of the frontal and parietal periventricular crossroads of pathways on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in preterm infants at term-equivalent age. The study enrolled 48 preterm infants born between 2012 and 2016. The signal-intensity characteristics of the frontal and parietal periventricular crossroads were evaluated and classified into four grades. A non-favorable outcome was defined as a motor and functional disorder with developmental delay and/or cerebral palsy. Neonatal seizures, epilepsy, pathological EEG and brain ultrasound finding, and brain MRI abnormalities were mostly found in neonates with non-favorable outcomes. Visible frontal and parietal periventricular crossroads were associated with a normal neurologic outcome (P=0.0004; P=0.0009, respectively). Not-visible or slightly visible periventricular crossroads were associated with non-favorable outcomes in the case of frontal crossroads (P=0.036) and not-visible periventricular crossroads in the case of both frontal and parietal crossroads (P=0.001, P=0.015, respectively). The visibility of the frontal and parietal periventricular crossroads was associated with a lack of neonatal epileptic seizures (P=0.03; P=0.02, respectively). The frontal crossroads were more frequently slightly visible, while the parietal periventricular crossroads were more frequently visible. Poor visibility of the frontal and parietal crossroads of pathways on MRI is associated with neonatal epileptic seizures and poor neurological outcomes in preterm infants at term-equivalent age.