الفهرس 
Preterm birthOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Preterm birth, defined as delivery before 37 weeks of gestation, is an important complication of both singleton and multifetal pregnancies worldwide. Children born preterm are at increased risk of mortality and are more likely to have long-term neurological and developmental disorders than those born at term. The risk of long-term neurodevelopmental deficits is inversely proportional to gestational age and is highest among the subgroup of newborns that are ˂28 weeks gestation at birth. The developing brain is highly susceptible to injury, particularly to the white matter. WMI is one of the dominant patterns of brain injury in premature newborns. Although there has been a decline in WMI over the past two decades, it remains among the main causes of motor and cognitive disability in children born prematurely. The immature WM in preterm newborns is highly vulnerable to hypoxia, ischemia, and inflammation. These insults lead to the activation of microglia, excitotoxicity, and the generation of free radicals, and these cascades of events selectively affect vulnerable premyelinating oligodendrocyte cells in the developing white matter, resulting in cell maturation arrest, cell death, and myelination failure. MR imaging remains an outstanding method to predict long-term neurodevelopmental outcome, and cerebral MR imaging should be part of standard clinical care for preterm infants. The high incidence of neurological injuries among preterm infants highlights the need for the discovery of biomarkers for the early detection.