Kerstin Pannek1, Giulia D'Acunto2, Andrea Guzzetta3, Simon Finnigan1, Preethi Mathew1, Roslyn Boyd1, Paul Colditz1, Stephen Rose1
1The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; 2University of Pisa, Italy; 3Stella Maris Scientific Institute, Italy
Preterm birth carries an increased risk of impaired motor function. We used a fully automated tractography technique to delineate interhemispheric motor connections in very preterm infants at term equivalent age and term born neonates. Measures of white matter integrity within the volume of the tracks correlated with clinical motor scores; however measures of white matter integrity on the midsagittal plane alone did not reveal significant correlations. This study describes a fully automated tractography technique for extracting commissural tracks in neonates, and highlights the importance of assessing white matter integrity within tracks, rather than on a single slice.