Brain Diffusivity in Infants with Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy Following Whole Body Hypothermia: Preliminary Results

Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy is an important cause of neuropsychological deficits. Little is known about brain diffusivity in these infants following cooling and its potential in predicting outcome. Diffusion tensor imaging was applied to three groups: 1) three infants with hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy: cooled2) three infants with hypoxic ischemicencephalopathy: non-cooled and3) four controls. Diffusivity values at the corticospinal tract, thalamus and putamen were correlated with Apgar scores and early neurodevelopmental outcome.