Neonatal hypoxia, hippocampal atrophy, and memory impairment: evidence of a causal sequence.

ABSTRACT: Neonates treated for acute respiratory failure experience episodes of hypoxia. The hippocampus, a structure essential for memory, is particularly vulnerable to such insults. Hence, some neonates undergoing treatment for acute respiratory failure might sustain bilateral hippocampal pathology early in life and memory problems later in childhood. We investigated this possibility in a cohort of 40 children who had been treated neonatally for acute respiratory failure but were free of overt neurological impairment. The cohort had mean hippocampal volumes (HVs) significantly below normal control values, memory scores significantly below the standard population means, and memory quotients significantly below those predicted by their full scale IQs. Brain white matter volume also fell below the vo

SUBMITTER: Cooper JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4428295 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature