Bompard Lucile, Xu Shun, Styner Martin, Paniagua Beatriz, Ahn Mihye, Yuan Ying, Jewells Valerie, Gao Wei, Shen Dinggang, Zhu Hongtu, Lin Weili
Biomedical Research Imaging Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
Department of Computer Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2014 Sep 29;9(9):e108306. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0108306. eCollection 2014.
Little is known about the temporospatial shape characteristics of human lateral ventricles (LVs) during the first two years of life. This study aimed to delineate the morphological growth characteristics of LVs during early infancy using longitudinally acquired MR images in normal healthy infants.
24 healthy infants were MR imaged starting from 2 weeks old every 3 months during the first and every 6 months during the second year. Bilateral LVs were segmented and longitudinal morphological and shape analysis were conducted using longitudinal mixed effect models.
A significant bilateral ventricular volume increase (p<0.0001) is observed in year one (Left: 126±51% and Right: 145±62%), followed by a significant reduction (p<0.02) during the second year of life (Left: -24±27% and Right: -20±18%) despite the continuing increase of intracranial volume. Morphological analysis reveals that the ventricular growth is spatially non-uniform, and that the most significant growth occurs during the first 6 months. The first 3 months of life exhibit a significant (p<0.01) bilateral lengthening of the anterior lateral ventricle and a significant increase of radius (p<0.01) and area (p<0.01) at the posterior portion of the ventricle. Shape analysis shows that the horns exhibit a faster growth rate than the mid-body. Finally, bilateral significant age effects (p<0.01) are observed for the growth of LVs whereas gender effects are more subtle and significant effects (p<0.01) only present at the left anterior and posterior horns. More importantly, both the age and gender effects are growth directionally dependent.
We have demonstrated the temporospatial shape growth characteristics of human LVs during the first two years of life using a unique longitudinal MR data set. A temporally and spatially non-uniform growth pattern was reported. These normative results could provide invaluable information to discern abnormal growth patterns in patients with neurodevelopmental disorders.
关于人类侧脑室（LVs）在生命的头两年中的时空形状特征，人们所知甚少。本研究旨在利用正常健康婴儿纵向获取的磁共振图像，描绘婴儿早期侧脑室的形态生长特征。
24名健康婴儿从2周龄开始进行磁共振成像，第一年每3个月进行一次，第二年每6个月进行一次。对双侧侧脑室进行分割，并使用纵向混合效应模型进行纵向形态和形状分析。
在第一年观察到双侧脑室体积显著增加（p<0.0001）（左侧：126±51%，右侧：145±62%），随后在生命的第二年显著减少（p<0.02）（左侧：-24±27%，右侧：-20±18%），尽管颅内体积持续增加。形态学分析表明，脑室生长在空间上不均匀，最显著的生长发生在头6个月。生命的前3个月显示双侧外侧脑室前部显著延长（p<0.01），脑室后部半径（p<0.01）和面积（p<0.01）显著增加。形状分析表明，角部的生长速度比中部快。最后，观察到侧脑室生长存在双侧显著的年龄效应（p<0.01），而性别效应更为细微，仅在左侧前角和后角存在显著效应（p<0.01）。更重要的是，年龄和性别效应在生长方向上都是依赖性的。
我们利用独特的纵向磁共振数据集展示了人类侧脑室在生命头两年中的时空形状生长特征。报告了一种在时间和空间上不均匀的生长模式。这些规范性结果可为识别神经发育障碍患者的异常生长模式提供宝贵信息。
