Article

The objective of this study was to investigate the involvement of the motor
fibres of the corpus callosum after unilateral neonatal arterial ischemic stroke
(NAIS) of the middle cerebral artery territory and the relationship to both
ipsilesional and contralesional hand function. METHOD:
Using high-resolution
structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI, and magnetic
resonance diffusion-tractography, we compared the midsagittal area of the motor
part of the corpus callosum (defined by the fibres connecting the precentral
gyri) between 33 7-year-old children after unilateral NAIS and 31 typically
developing 7-year-old children. Hand motor performance was assessed by the box
and blocks test. RESULTS: Children after NAIS showed on average significantly
smaller motor corpus callosum area compared to typically developing children
(p<0.001, without differences of the non-motor corpus callosum area). In
addition, there was a significant positive association between the motor part of
the corpus callosum and both contralesional (Pr(>|t|)=0.034) and ipsilesional
hand motor performance (Pr(>|t|)=0.006) after controlling for lesion volume and
sex. In a post-hoc analysis the additional contribution of corticospinal tract
damage was evaluated. INTERPRETATION: Compared to typically developing children,
children after NAIS exhibited a smaller motor part of their corpus callosum
associated with reduced contralesional but also ipsilesional manual dexterity.
These results indicate that the affection of transcallosal motor fibres in
unilateral NAIS might be of functional relevance and an important part of the
involved structural network that should be elucidated in further studies.
CI - (c) 2017 Mac Keith Press.

Langue : ANGLAIS