Drottar Marie, Kim Chan-Mi, Nadvar Negin, Cabral Howard J, Bauer Corinna M
Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Vision Science, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Department of Radiology, Gordon Center for Medical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
J Child Neurol. 2025 Jul;40(6):403-414. doi: 10.1177/08830738251316406. Epub 2025 Feb 17.
The thalamus is critical for the relay and modulation of visual information. As such, injury to the developing thalamus may result in cerebral visual impairment (CVI). This study investigated quantitative volume reductions of the thalamus in cerebral visual impairment compared to controls and probed the association between thalamic volume and the severity of cerebral visual impairment-related visual dysfunctions. Thalamic volumes were quantified using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data from 23 participants with cerebral visual impairment and 42 controls. Nineteen participants with cerebral visual impairment also completed the CVI Questionnaire. Cerebral visual impairment was associated with significant volume reductions of the global thalami, anterior, lateral, and ventral thalamic regions, as well as several nuclei, particularly in those with cerebral visual impairment due to periventricular leukomalacia. Within the cerebral visual impairment group, smaller volumes of the right thalamus and lateral pulvinar were significantly associated with more reported difficulties moving through space. Together, these results provide empirical evidence supporting aberrant thalamic development as a potential mechanism underlying cerebral visual impairment.
丘脑对于视觉信息的中继和调制至关重要。因此，发育中的丘脑损伤可能导致脑性视觉障碍（CVI）。本研究调查了与对照组相比，脑性视觉障碍患者丘脑的定量体积减少情况，并探究了丘脑体积与脑性视觉障碍相关视觉功能障碍严重程度之间的关联。使用来自23名脑性视觉障碍参与者和42名对照组的T1加权磁共振成像（MRI）数据对丘脑体积进行量化。19名脑性视觉障碍参与者还完成了CVI问卷。脑性视觉障碍与整个丘脑、丘脑前区、外侧区和腹侧区以及几个核团的显著体积减少有关，特别是在因脑室周围白质软化导致脑性视觉障碍的患者中。在脑性视觉障碍组中，右侧丘脑和外侧枕核体积较小与报告的空间移动困难较多显著相关。总之，这些结果提供了实证证据，支持丘脑发育异常是脑性视觉障碍潜在机制的观点。
