Proton spectroscopy and diffusion imaging on the first day of life after perinatal asphyxia: preliminary report.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE MR techniques have proved useful in assessing brain injury from perinatal asphyxia when the injury is subacute or chronic. Recent advances in understanding the molecular mechanisms of brain injury have made medical intervention plausible, creating a need for assessment of the brain within the first few hours of life. We report the results of early (first 24 hours after birth) MR imaging in seven patients, including proton MR spectroscopy in six. METHODS MR studies were performed within the first 24 hours of life in seven consecutive patients who were encephalopathic after complicated deliveries. Standard T1-, T2-, and diffusion-weighted sequences were performed in all patients; single-voxel MR spectroscopy was performed in two locations in six of the seven patients. Follow-up MR studies were performed in four patients at ages 7, 8, 9, and 15 days, respectively. RESULTS T1-weighted images were normal in all seven patients. T2-weighted images were normal in three patients and showed T2 prolongation in the basal ganglia or white matter in the other four. Diffusion images showed small abnormalities in the lateral thalami or internal capsules in all seven patients. Comparison with clinical course in all seven patients and with follow-up MR studies in four showed that the diffusion images underestimated the extent of brain injury. Proton MR spectroscopy showed substantial lactate elevation in all six of the patients studied. Two patients died in the neonatal period and the other five were left with clinically significant neurologic impairment. CONCLUSION MR spectroscopy performed in the first 24 hours after birth is sensitive to the presence of hypoxic-ischemic brain injury, whereas diffusion imaging may help identify but underestimate the extent of the injury. Further studies are ongoing in an attempt to expand upon this observation.