Background
Children with very low birth weight (VLBW) have a significantly increased risk of later neurodevelopmental problems, while infants born small for gestational age (SGA) at term are also at some risk of developing neurological impairment.Objective
To investigate possible brain metabolite differences in adolescents with VLBW, SGA at term and controls by proton in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) at 1.5 T.Materials and methods
MR spectra were acquired from volumes localized in the left frontal lobe, containing mainly white matter (54 subjects). Peak areas of N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), choline (Cho) and creatine (Cr) were determined, and the peak area ratio of NAA to Cr, total Cho to Cr, or NAA to Cho calculated. Probabilistic neural network (PNN) analysis was performed utilizing the chemical shift region containing resonances from NAA, Cho and Cr as inputs.Results
No significant difference in the peak area ratios could be found using the Kruskal-Wallis test. By application of PNN, a correct classification of 52 of the 54 adolescents with a sensitivity and specificity exceeding 93% for all groups was achieved.Conclusion
Small, yet systematic, differences in brain metabolite distribution among the groups were confirmed by PNN analysis.Keywords Very low birth weight - In vivo proton MRS - Probabilistic neural network - Partial least squares regression discriminant analysis - Adolescents - Brain metabolites