Wozniak Jeffrey R, Mueller Bryon A, Chang Pi-Nian, Muetzel Ryan L, Caros Lydia, Lim Kelvin O
Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA.
Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2006 Oct;30(10):1799-806. doi: 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00213.x.
Prenatal alcohol exposure, which is associated with macrostructural brain abnormalities, neurocognitive deficits, and behavioral disturbances, is characterized as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in severe cases. The only published study thus far using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) showed microstructural abnormalities in patients with FAS. The current study investigated whether similar abnormalities are present in less severely affected, prenatally exposed patients who did not display all of the typical FAS physical stigmata.
Subjects included 14 children, ages 10 to 13, with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) and 13 matched controls. Cases with full-criteria FAS, mental retardation, or microcephaly were excluded. Subjects underwent MRI scans including DTI.
Although cases with microcephaly were excluded, there was a trend toward smaller total cerebral volume in the FASD group (p=0.057, Cohen's d effect size =0.73). Subjects with FASD had greater mean diffusivity (MD) in the isthmus of the corpus callosum than controls (p=0.013, effect size =1.05), suggesting microstructural abnormalities in this region. There were no group differences in 5 other regions of the corpus callosum. Correlations between MD in the isthmus and facial dysmorphology were nonsignificant.
These results suggest that even relatively mild forms of fetal alcohol exposure may be associated with microstructural abnormalities in the posterior corpus callosum that are detectable with DTI.
产前酒精暴露与大脑宏观结构异常、神经认知缺陷及行为障碍有关，严重时表现为胎儿酒精综合征（FAS）。迄今为止，唯一一项使用扩散张量成像（DTI）的已发表研究显示FAS患者存在微观结构异常。本研究调查了在受影响较轻、未表现出所有典型FAS身体特征的产前暴露患者中是否也存在类似异常。
研究对象包括14名年龄在10至13岁的患有胎儿酒精谱系障碍（FASD）的儿童和13名匹配的对照组儿童。排除符合全部标准的FAS、智力障碍或小头畸形病例。研究对象接受了包括DTI在内的MRI扫描。
尽管排除了小头畸形病例，但FASD组的全脑体积有变小的趋势（p = 0.057，科恩d效应量 = 0.73）。FASD患者胼胝体峡部的平均扩散率（MD）高于对照组（p = 0.013，效应量 = 1.05），表明该区域存在微观结构异常。胼胝体其他5个区域没有组间差异。胼胝体峡部的MD与面部畸形之间的相关性不显著。
这些结果表明，即使是相对轻度的胎儿酒精暴露形式，也可能与DTI可检测到的胼胝体后部微观结构异常有关。
