Longitudinal Assessment of Abnormal Cortical Folding in Fetuses and Neonates With Isolated Non‐Severe Ventriculomegaly

Abstract

ABSTRACT Purpose The impact of ventriculomegaly (VM) on cortical development and brain functionality has been extensively explored in existing literature. VM has been associated with higher risks of attention‐deficit and hyperactivity disorders, as well as cognitive, language, and behavior deficits. Some studies have also shown a relationship between VM and cortical overgrowth, along with reduced cortical folding, both in fetuses and neonates. However, there is a lack of longitudinal studies that study this relationship from fetuses to neonates. Method We used a longitudinal dataset of 30 subjects (15 healthy controls and 15 subjects diagnosed with isolated non‐severe VM (INSVM)) with structural MRI acquired in and ex utero for each subject. We focused on the impact of fetal INSVM on cortical development from a longitudinal perspective, from the fetal to the neonatal stage. Particularly, we examined the relationship between ventricular enlargement and both volumetric features and a multifaceted set of cortical folding measures, including local gyrification, sulcal depth, curvature, and cortical thickness. Findings Our results show significant effects of isolated non‐severe VM (INSVM) compared to healthy controls, with reduced cortical thickness in specific brain regions such as the occipital, parietal, and frontal lobes. Conclusion These findings align with existing literature, confirming the presence of alterations in cortical growth and folding in subjects with isolated non‐severe VM (INSVM) from the fetal to neonatal stage compared to controls.

Keywords

• atlas‐based segmentation | brain | fetal | longitudinal analysis | mixed‐effects model | MRI | neonatal | ventriculomegaly