Abstract #1409

Tract-based spatial statistics to assess the effect of histologic chorioamnionitis on white matter development in preterm infants

Devasuda Anblagan^1,2, Rozalia Pataky², Margaret J Evans³, Sarah Sparrow², Chinthika Piyasena⁴, Emma J Telford², Scott I Semple^4,5, Alastair Graham Wilkinson⁶, Mark E Bastin¹, and James P Boardman^1,2

¹Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ²MRC Centre for Reproductive Health, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ³Department of Pathology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ⁴Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ⁵Clinical Research Imaging Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ⁶Department of Radiology, Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Chorioamnionitis is associated with preterm birth in around 40% of cases. There are uncertainties about its contribution to diffuse white matter injury associated with preterm birth, and its importance in relation to other injurious exposures experienced by preterm infants. 90 preterm infants, 26 born with histopathological evidence of chorioamnionitis, were scanned at term equivalent age using a whole brain diffusion MRI protocol, and TBSS analysis was run. We found that chorioamnionitis is associated with lower fractional anisotropy, indicative of diffuse white matter injury in preterm infants, and this is independent of known predictors for abnormal brain development after preterm birth.

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