RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 White Matter Injury and Structural Anomalies in Infants with Prenatal Opioid Exposure
JF American Journal of Neuroradiology
JO Am. J. Neuroradiol.
FD American Society of Neuroradiology
SP 2161
OP 2165
DO 10.3174/ajnr.A6282
VO 40
IS 12
A1 S.L. Merhar
A1 N.A. Parikh
A1 A. Braimah
A1 B.B. Poindexter
A1 J. Tkach
A1 B. Kline-Fath
YR 2019
UL http://www.ajnr.org/content/40/12/2161.abstract
AB SUMMARY: Previous studies have not found structural injury or brain malformations in infants and children with prenatal opioid exposure. As part of an ongoing study evaluating neuroimaging in infants with prenatal opioid exposure, we reviewed structural brain MR imaging in 20 term infants with prenatal opioid exposure and 20 term controls at 4–8 weeks of age. We found that 8 of the 20 opioid-exposed infants had punctate white matter lesions or white matter signal abnormality on structural MR imaging, and 2 of the opioid-exposed infants had a septopreoptic fusion anomaly. No controls had white matter injury or structural malformations. Our findings underscore the importance of clinical neurodevelopmental follow-up and the need for more comprehensive imaging and long-term outcomes research following prenatal opioid exposure.