Long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm children with unilateral cerebral lesions diagnosed by neonatal ultrasound Brigitte Vollmer a,b, * , Simon Roth a , Kate Riley a , Frances O’Brien a , Jenny Baudin a , Michelle De Haan c , Faraneh Vargha Khadem c , Brian G.R. Neville b , John S. Wyatt a a Department of Paediatrics, University College London Medical School, The Rayne Institute, University Street, London WC1E 6JJ, UK b Neurosciences Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College London, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AP, UK c Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK Accepted 22 December 2005 Abstract Objective: Little information is available on long-term neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm infants with unilateral cerebral lesions detected by neonatal cranial ultrasound. This study aims to investigate the long-term outcome in a cohort of very preterm infants with unilateral cerebral lesions acquired in the perinatal period. Methods: A prospective cohort study of 668 preterm infants (b 33 weeks gestation; birth years 1985—1991) at a single tertiary perinatal centre in the UK. All infants had serial cranial ultrasound examination in the neonatal period. Outcome was assessed at age 8 years with the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children (WISC-R), Test of Visuo-motor Integration (VMI) and the Test of Motor Impairment (TOMI). Results: Of the 668 infants, 369 infants had normal ultrasound scans. Two hundred and ninety nine children had bilateral parenchymal or non-parenchymal lesions (57 left-sided, 41 right- sided, 201 bilateral). Five hundred and thirty four (79%) children attended follow-up at age 8 years. Mean Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) was 101 (SD F 16), 93 (SD F 17), 102 (SD F 17) and 91 (SD F 21) for normal, left-sided, right-sided and bilateral lesion groups respectively. In all groups verbal IQ (VIQ) was higher than performance IQ (PIQ). Scores of FSIQ, VIQ and PIQ, VMI and TOMI were significantly different between the groups. After exclusion of children with parenchymal lesions, however, the difference was only significant for the TOMI scores. 0378-3782/$ - see front matter D 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2005.12.011 * Corresponding author. Neurosciences Unit, Institute of Child Health, UniversityCollege London, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AP, UK. Tel.: +44 2078377618. E-mail address: b.vollmer@ich.ucl.ac.uk (B. Vollmer). KEYWORDS Preterm infants; Neurodevelopmental outcome; Cranial ultrasound; Unilateral cerebral lesions Early Human Development (2006) 82, 655—661 available at www.sciencedirect.com www.elsevier.com/locate/earlhumdev