Table 2.
Comparison between PVS-WM volume and WM-PVS visual grades with (a) the sex of the whole cohort, (b) NP-Non-ASD versus ASD males, (c) NP-Non-ASD versus ASD females, (d) autism cases < and ≥ 4 years of age, and (e) according with ASD severity.
| (a) Whole cohort | (b) Male cohort | (c) Female cohort | (d) Age of ASD cases | (e) Severity of ASD | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groups (n. of patients) | All males (83) | All females (53) | Male NP-Non-ASD (40) | Male ASD (43) | Female NP-Non-ASD (32) | Female ASD (n = 21) | <4 years (35) | ≥4 years (29) | Mild level 1 (10) | Moderate level 2 (18) | Severe level 3 (36) | |
| Median (IQR) WM-PVS volume (n. of voxel) | 596* (361–1,099) | 425 (306–701) | 545 (353–931.5) | 705 (392–1,196) | 415 (267–660.5) | 425 (337–730) | 795** (431–1,252) | 422 (324–657) | 488.5 (332–657) | 417 (294–855) | 751.5 (434–1,155) | |
| WM-PVS grade n (%) | 1 (1–10) | 3 (3.6) | 3 (5.7) | 3 (7.5) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (6.3) | 1 (4.8) | 1 (2.9) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (5.6) | 0 (0.0) |
| 2 (11–20) | 19 (22.9) | 13 (24.5) | 7 (17.5) | 12 (27.9) | 8 (25.0) | 5 (23.8) | 6 (17.1) | 11 (37.9) | 3 (30.0) | 6 (33.3) | 8 (22.2) | |
| 3 (21–40) | 35 (42.2) | 22 (41.5) | 22 (55.0) | 13 (30.2) | 13 (40.6) | 9 (42.9) | 10 (28.6) | 12 (41.4) | 5 (50.0) | 6 (33.3) | 11 (30.6) | |
| 4 (>40) | 26 (31.3) | 15 (28.3) | 8 (20.0) | 18* (41.9) | 9 (28.1) | 6 (28.6) | 18*** (51.4) | 6 (20.7) | 2 (20.0) | 5 (27.8) | 17 (47.2) | |
Significant results are indicated with asterisks. WM-PVS grade 4 showed a progressive increase in frequency in relation to the progressive severity of ASD (20.0%, 27.8% and 47.2% in the mild, moderate, and severe level, respectively). *p = 0.01; **p = 0.006; ***p = 0.03.