The Study
Can magnetic resonance spectroscopy predict neurodevelopmental outcome in very low birth weight preterm infants?
This study looked at whether brain scans of tiny premature babies could tell if they’d be okay when they grew up. It found that the scans didn’t help predict how they’d do later — but that doesn’t mean the scans are useless. It just means, in this group of babies, the numbers from the scan didn’t match up with how they developed.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
Doctors scanned the brains of very tiny premature babies near their due date to see if brain chemicals could tell if they’d have trouble learning or moving later.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 532 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1No, the results don't help doctors predict which babies will have developmental problems — the scan changes with age but can't tell who will struggle later.
- 2Brain chemical NAA/Ch went up as babies got older (good sign of brain growth), but it didn't predict if they'd have delays at age 2.
- 336 babies total.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of Perinatology
Year
2008
Authors
E M Augustine, D. Spielman, P. Barnes, T L Sutcliffe, J. Dermon, M. Mirmiran, D. B. Clayton, R. Ariagno
Related Content
Videos (2)
Claims (4)
For babies born very early and very small, doctors use two different brain scans to check for injury—but these scans don’t seem to agree with each other when it comes to spotting brain damage.
When tiny premature babies grow a little older in the womb and after birth, their brains show signs of getting more developed—like neurons getting better connected and insulated—as seen by a special brain scan measure.
Doctors looked at brain chemical levels in tiny premature babies and found no link between those levels and how well the babies developed mentally or physically by the time they were 18 to 24 months old.
In very small premature babies, the brain chemical ratio measured in certain areas doesn’t tell us whether they’ll develop normally or have problems later, even though this ratio naturally goes up as the baby gets older.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.