Brain structure in prenatal stroke: Quantitative magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI) analysis

Neonatal stroke outcome studies demonstrate variable findings of either relatively spared intellectual function or persistent impairments. Volumetric measurement of the brain can provide more precise data on lesion-cognition outcomes. We studied 7 children with unilateral focal lesions from prenatal stroke. Whole-brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were analyzed to produce volumes of cortical gray matter, total white matter, cerebrospinal fluid, lesion, and lesion constricted fluid, and we ascertained the relationship of morphometric variables to intellectual and clinical outcome. Children with cystic encephalomalacia plus atrophy had poorer outcomes than children with atrophy or gliosis alone. These children also demonstrated the largest lesion size, smallest gray matter volume, and greatest proportion of hyperintense white matter in the affected, p hemisphere. Findings suggest that the type and size of the lesion, in addition to the integrity of white matter and residual cortex, may be better predictors of intellectual functioning than either of these indices alone.