TABLE 3.
Brain structure measurements in patients born pre‐term (study cohort) and those born at term (reference group)
| Brain structure |
Born at term N = 37 Mean (SD) |
Born pre‐term N = 178 Mean (SD) |
Difference Mean (SD) |
Difference 95% CI |
P (Student t test) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grey matter (volume, mm3) | Total | 607 794.2 (60 934.5) | 571 772.5 (57, 944) | 36 021.7 (10 562.5) | (15 201.2, 56 842.2) | <0.01 | |
| Cortical | 547 009.2 (56 354.1) | 515 630.0 (53 919.1) | 31 379.1 (9817.8) | (12 026.7, 50 731.7) | <0.01 | ||
| Subcortical | Total volume | 60 785 (5419.7) | 56 142.5 (5432.1) | 4642.5 (981.1) | (2708.6, 6576.4) | <0.01 | |
| Caudate nucleus | 7785.5 (1012.1) | 7123.0 (992.3) | 662.5 (179.9) | (307.9, 1017.1) | <0.01 | ||
| Putamen | 13 112.0 (1453) | 12 303.0 (1329) | 808.9 (244.1) | (327.8, 1290) | <0.01 | ||
| Globus pallidus | 3430.0 (604.7) | 3140.3 (506.3) | 289.6 (94.7) | (102.9, 476.3) | <0.01 | ||
| Accumbens nucleus | 1617.1 (220.4) | 1484.9 (235.0) | 132.1 (42.0) | (49.3, 215) | <0.01 | ||
| Striatum | 25 944.5 (2629.6) | 24 051.3 (2542.5) | 1893.2 (462.1) | (928.3, 2804) | <0.01 | ||
| Amygdala nuclei | 3485.7 (438.0) | 3318.8 (482.0) | 167 (85.8) | (–2.15, 336.1) | 0.05 | ||
| Hippocampus | 7880.8 (865.0) | 7322.4 (863.6) | 558.4 (156.1) | (250.8, 866.1) | <0.01 | ||
| Thalamus | 14 203.7 (1472.8) | 12 872.1 (1522.6) | 1331.6 (273.6) | (792.3, 1871) | <0.01 | ||
| Cerebellum | 87 633.2 (9493.2) | 82 289.3 (9526.3) | 5344 (1720.2) | (1953.1, 8734.7) | <0.01 | ||
| White matter | Total volume (mm3) | 356 273.6 (48 042.2) | 320 761.3 (48 042.2) | 35 512.2 (9034.4) | (–53 320.5, –17 704.0) | <0.01 | |
| Total volume of corpus callosum (mm3) | 3088.6 (480.1) | 2811.6 (461.0) | 277.1 (83.9) | (111.7, 442.4) | <0.01 | ||
| Total volume of corticospinal tract (mm3) | 2328.1 (397.4) | 1988.6 (428.0) | 339.5 (76.5) | (188.8, 490.3) | <0.01 | ||
| Total fractional anisotropy (0–1) | 0.58 (0.01) | 0.59 (0.01) | –0.004 (0.002) | (–0.01, 0.00) | 0.07 | ||
| Total fibre length (cm) | 73.7 (2.6) | 72.9 (3.7) | 0.86 (0.78) | (–0.67, 2.39) | 0.27 | ||
| Total fibre count (no.) | 17 725.7 (3499.6) | 16 401.3 (3818.7) | 1324.4 (808.5) | (270.0, 2918.8) | 0.10 | ||
| Cerebellar white matter volume (mm3) | 26 999.4 (3519.9) | 24 714.6 (3314.9) | 2284.9 (605.4) | (1091.6, 3478.1) | <0.01 | ||