Feenstra, J.G. (Joos) (2012) SEIZURES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ALTERED HIPPOCAMPAL DIFFUSION IN INFANTS WHO SUFFERED HYPOXIC-ISCHEMIC ENCEPHALOPATHY. thesis, Medicine.
Full text available on request.Abstract
In animal models, neonatal seizures lead to long-term learning and memory deficits, but it is still unclear how seizures affect human newborns. The goal of this study was to assess whether seizures are associated with altered hippocampal microstructure in neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. We included 9 infants with and 28 without seizures. Neonatal and 6-month diffusion tensor imaging was used to measure apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) from regions of interest (ROIs) in the hippocampus, basal ganglia, thalamus and frontal white matter. On the early scans, there were no significant differences in ADC or FA between the seizure groups, except for a higher thalamic ADC in neonates with seizures. When only including neonates who were treated with hypothermia, no differences were seen in any ROI. On the follow-up scans, we found a lower hippocampal FA in infants who had seizures, but no other significant differences in ADC or FA between the seizure groups. When only including infants who were treated with hypothermia, infants with seizures had a higher hippocampal ADC, a lower hippocampal FA and a higher thalamic FA compared to infants without seizures. These preliminary results suggest that neonatal seizures are associated with altered hippocampal structural development. Because the difference was seen mainly in the hippocampus, and only on follow-up but not neonatal imaging, we speculate that the seizures resulted in the abnormal hippocampal development. However, these results could also be explained by hypoxic ischemic injury that was not measured in the neonatal period. The findings are in keeping with studies that suggest neonatal seizures are an independent risk factor for adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Further studies are needed to confirm whether seizures harm newborns.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Thesis) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Faculty supervisor: and Bos, A.F.MD |
| Supervisor name: | External supervisor: and Glass, H.C. MDCM and Institution: Department of Neurology, University of Californ |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2020 11:00 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2020 11:00 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/2018 |
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