New Preemie MRI Predicts Problems

The earlier brain damage or developmental problems are discovered, the earlier they can be treated. Since the older babies get, the less they respond to treatment, this new one-of-a-kind MRI machine designed to allow premature babies to get brain scans offers hope for future preemies.

Nearly 500,000 babies (about 12 percent of the total number of babies born each year) were born in the United States prematurely in 2003 according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The premature birth rate has increased by 13 percent from 1992 to 2002. Nearly half of all of them suffer from some sort of neurodevelopmental problems, such as cerebral palsy.

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco are using an incubator they helped design to be compatible with MRI machines. This allows them to see the effects of a premature birth earlier.

What Does This Solve?

Though there is no inherent danger in administering MRI scans to infants, getting an infant into an MRI machine is risky. Premature babies are very fragile. Excessive handling, or even loud noises can cause irregular heartbeat or other life-threatening complications.

This new MRI machine accepts an incubator made entirely of plastic, brass, aluminum, and other non-magnetic materials, since the machine uses extremely powerful magnets. The infant can stay inside the warm incubator breathing warm, fresh air that is pumped in from outside while it is in the MRI machine. A sedative is often used so the baby falls asleep and does not move while the scan is in progress.

Terrie Inder, M.D. from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said, “The brain goes through this period in the first two years of life, kind of redesigning itself. It expands enormously all of its connection and pruned them down … If you miss that window of opportunity where you can help the brain connect critically … it's very hard to overcome these disabilities once they're established by age two.”

In addition to allowing treatment to begin sooner thus increasing the chances of success, Dr. Inder adds that knowing how the baby has been affected by being born preterm “ … helps the family have some guideline about what to expect for the future of the infant.”

Was your child born prematurely and develop cerebral palsy? Contact us to learn about cerebral palsy therapies, or speak to a cerebral palsy lawyer who can help explain your child's legal rights.