WANG Juanchao, ZHANG Ziyu, ZHANG Han, et al
Journal of Clinical Radiology.
2025, 44(11):
2162-2168.
Objective Assessment of abnormal cortical development in preterm infants with developmental language disorder (DLD) using structural magnetic resonance imaging. Methods The study followed up on 39 premature infants who were admitted to the neonatal ward /NICU in our hospital from January 2021 to March 2023,and followed up in the high-risk pediatric clinic until 12 months of corrected gestational age.They were stratified into a DLD (Developmental Language Disorder) group(20 cases) and a normal language development group(19 cases).Whole brain 3D-T1WI MRI was performed using a 3.0 T magnetic resonance examination equipment at corrected gestational age of 40-42 weeks.Image processing and cortical surface reconstruction were conducted using United Imaging's segmentation model and Infant Freesurfer image analysis software based on brain surface morphology.Cortical thickness(CT) and cortical surface area (SA) of all regions in the brain were calculated (68 regions in total).SPSS 25.0 statistical software was used to input and analyze the data. Results (1) Comparison of CT values between the two cerebral hemispheres showed that the brain regions with significant asymmetry in DLD group were isthmus of anterior cingulate gyrus,isthmus gyrus,inferior temporal lobe,lateral occipital lobe,lateral orbitofrontal lobe,lingual gyrus,collateral hippocampus,central limbic gyrus,posterior central gyrus,posterior cingulate gyrus,anterior cuneiform gyrus,anterior cingulate gyrus,and superior marginal gyrus (P<0.05).The brain regions with significant asymmetry in normal group were isthmus of anterior cingulate gyrus,entolfactory,inferior parietal,inferior temporal,isthmus of cingulate gyrus,lateral occipital lobe,lateral orbitofrontal lobe,lingual gyrus,accessory hippocampus,central limbic gyrus,inferior frontal gyrus tegmental,prefrontal gyrus,posterior central gyrus,anterior cingulate gyrus,superior limbic gyrus and temporal pole (P<0.05).(2) Comparison of SA values in both cerebral hemispheres showed that In DLD group,the brain regions with significant asymmetry were isthmus anterior cingulate gyrus,caudal central frontal gyrus,inferior parietal lobe,isthmus anterior cingulate gyrus,lateral orbitofrontal lobe,lingual gyrus,medial orbitofrontal lobe,middle temporal lobe,collateral hippocampus,central limbic gyrus,caput anterior gyrus,ascending branch of inferior frontal gyrus,triangular part of inferior frontal gyrus,posterior cingulate gyrus,superior parietal gyrus,frontal pole,transverse temporal gyrus,insula (P<0.05); In the normal group,the brain regions with significant asymmetry were isthmus of anterior cingulate gyrus,caudal gyrus of central frontal gyrus,cuneiform gyrus,inferior parietal lobe,isthmus of cingulate gyrus,lateral orbitofrontal lobe,medial orbitofrontal lobe,middle temporal lobe,collateral hippocampus,central limbic gyrus,tegmental branch of inferior frontal gyrus,triangular part of inferior frontal gyrus,posterior central gyrus,posterior cingulate gyrus,anterior cingulate gyrus,superior temporal gyrus,frontal pole,transverse temporal gyrus,and insula (P<0.05). Conclusion sDLD preterm infants exhibited a reduced number of hemispherical asymmetrical areas on CT and SA compared to the normal group,indicating diminished left-sided development.These findings suggest that decreased left-sided dysplasia holds predictive value for the language development of preterm infants with DLD.Therefore,it is crucial to pay attention to preterm infants displaying reduced left-sided dysplasia and promptly initiate early intervention measures in order to enhance their quality of life.