Table 1.
Demographic, clinical and descriptive MRI analyses of the total cohort, stratified between NP/Non-ASD and autism cases.
| Patients | Total cohort (n = 136) | NP/Non-ASD (n = 72) | ASD (n = 64) | p | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median (IQR) age, years | 4 (2–6) | 4 (2–7) | 3 (2–5) | 0.06 | |
| Females, n (%) | 53 (39.0) | 32 (44.4) | 21 (32.8) | 0.17 | |
| Complex autism (%) | – | – | 54 (84.4) | – | |
| ASD Severity n (%) | Mild 1 | – | – | 10 (15.6) | – |
| Moderate 2 | – | – | 18 (28.1) | ||
| Severe 3 | – | – | 36 (56.3) | ||
| IQ levels n (%) | Normal | 19 (37.3) | 11 (52.4) | 8 (26.7) | 0.34 |
| Borderline | 16 (31.4) | 6 (28.6) | 10 (33.3) | ||
| Mild | 7 (13.7) | 1 (4.8) | 6 (20.0) | ||
| Moderate | 6 (11.8) | 2 (9.5) | 4 (13.3) | ||
| Severe | 3 (5.9) | 1 (4.8) | 2 (6.7) | ||
| ADHD, n (%) | 13 (9.6) | 3 (4.2) | 10 (15.6) | 0.04 | |
| Sleep disorders, n (%) | 24 (17.7) | 0 (0.0) | 24 (37.5) | <0.0001 | |
| Epilepsy, n (%) | 17 (12.5) | 8 (11.1) | 9 (14.1) | 0.60 | |
| MRI findings | |||||
| PVS enlargement, n (%) | 7 (5.1) | 3 (4.2) | 4 (6.3) | 0.71 | |
| Abnormal size of CSF spaces, n (%)* | 17 (12.5) | 13 (18.1) | 4 (6.3) | 0.04 | |
| Gliosis, n (%) | 27 (19.9) | 14 (19.4) | 13 (20.3) | 0.90 | |
| Malformation, n (%)** | 11 (8.1) | 8 (11.1) | 3 (4.7) | 0.22 | |
| Normal, n (%) | 62 (45.6) | 31 (43.1) | 31 (48.4) | 0.53 | |
| Median (IQR) WM-PVS volume (n. of voxel) | 545 (334.5–902.5) | 532.5 (312.0–735.5) | 621.5 (374–1,061) | 0.07 | |
| WM-PVS grade, n (%) | 1 (1–10) | 6 (4.4) | 5 (6.9) | 1 (1.6) | 0.10 |
| 2 (11–20) | 32 (23.5) | 15 (20.8) | 17 (26.6) | ||
| 3 (21–40) | 57 (41.9) | 35 (48.6) | 22 (34.4) | ||
| 4 (>40) | 41 (30.2) | 17 (23.6) | 24 (37.5) | ||
*Benign enlargement or restriction of ventricular size; benign enlargement of subarachnoid space; idiopathic aqueduct stenosis, megacisterna magna, Chiari I with or without syringomyelia. **Macrocephaly, microcephaly, cerebellar atrophy, abnormal septum pellucidum, abnormal corpus callosum, abnormal neuronal migration, abnormal cortical organization. Significant p values are in bold.