Corpus callosum atrophy in adolescents with antecedents of moderate perinatal asphyxia

BACKGROUND: The corpus callosum (CC) is a cerebral structure that reflects cognitive status in several neurological pathologies. Visual inspection of MRI has shown that hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy(HIE) causes callosal damage. PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To quantify the CC surface in a sample of patients with antecedents of HIE and a group of matched controls. RESEARCH DESIGN: Comparisons of CC measures among control subjects, mild HIE patients and moderateHIE patients as well as correlates of CC surface and neuropsychological performance. METHODS: Twenty-one adolescent patients with childhood antecedents of HIE were compared to 21 controls. ANALYZE software was used to semi-automatically measure the CC area. MAIN OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Patients with moderate HIE showed corpus callosum reduction. The isthmus and genus were the most affected regions. Corpus callosum size correlated with cognitive function. CONCLUSIONS: Corpus callosum quantification provides new evidence of subtle residual deficits in subjects with HIE antecedents without apparent neurological sequelae.