Brain anomalies seen in former preemies.Infants born 5 weeks premature are more likely to have abnormal brain scans, reading troubles, and behavioral problems in adolescence than are children born after a full-term pregnancy. A British study of 72 prematurely born children finds that at 14 to 15 years old, 40 showed brain abnormalities in magnetic resonance magnetic resonance, in physics and chemistry, phenomenon produced by simultaneously applying a steady magnetic field and electromagnetic radiation (usually radio waves) to a sample of atoms and then adjusting the frequency of the radiation and the strength of the images (MRIs). The abnormalities included dilation dilation /di·la·tion/ (di-la´shun) 1. the act of dilating or stretching. 2. dilatation. di·la·tion n. 1. of the brain cavity holding cerebrospinal fluid cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Clear, colourless liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord and fills the spaces in them. It helps support the brain, acts as a lubricant, maintains pressure in the skull, and cushions shocks. and a thinning of nerve fibers that link the two hemispheres of the brain. Of 21 adolescents born full term, only one had an abnormal MRI 1. (application) MRI - Magnetic Resonance Imaging. 2. MRI - Measurement Requirements and Interface. , researchers report in the May 15 LANCET. The study is the first follow-up of children born preterm preterm /pre·term/ (-term´) before completion of the full term; said of pregnancy or of an infant. pre·term adj. that includes MRIs, says coauthor Ann L. Stewart of the University College London “UCL” redirects here. For other uses, see UCL (disambiguation). University College London, commonly known as UCL, is the oldest multi-faculty constituent college of the University of London, one of the two original founding colleges, and the first British Medical School. Eleven of the 40 adolescents with abnormal MRIs had a history of aberrant behavior, compared with 5 of 32 other preterm children and only 1 of the 21 children in the control group. Nine of the 40 had needed extra tutoring or repeated a grade in school, compared with 5 of the other preterm children and only a single control. Also, the preterm children had an average "reading age" that was 1 to 2 years lower than the controls'. Stewart notes that the control children generally were in families at a higher socioeconomic status than the families of the children born preterm. While many people who have abnormal brain scans are not considered brain damaged, the abnormalities in these children reflected measurable behavioral deficits, Stewart says. |
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