The risk of developing learning disability at school age in extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants showing dilated lateral ventricles on CT at postconceptual age of 40 weeks was evaluated at Akita School of Medicine, Japan. The mean area of lateral ventricles, measured by computer digitizer, was significantly larger in the learning disability group of 20 children than controls. None had progressive hydrocephalus, and the dilated ventricles were secondary to brain atrophy. [1]
COMMENT. Measurement of lateral ventricles by cranial CT at corrected term in ELBW newborns is an early predictor of learning disabilities at school age, and provides an opportunity for early educational intervention.
ADHD in low birth weight children. Neonatal cranial ultrasound abnormalities suggestive of white matter injury in low-birth-weight children were an increased risk for neuropsychiatric disorders by age 6 years in a study at Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute [2]. Twenty-two percent of the cohort were affected; ADHD was the most common disorder (16%).