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Non-cystic white matter (WM) injury has become prevalent among preterm newborns and is associated with long-term neurodevelopmental impairment. Magnetic resonance is the gold-standard for diagnosis; however, cranial ultrasound (CUS) is more easily available but limited by subjective interpretation of images. To overcome this problem, we enrolled in a prospective observational study, patients with gestational age at birth < 32 weeks with normal CUS scans or grade 1 WM injury. Patients underwent CUS examinations at 0-7 days of life (T 0 ), 14-35 days of life (T 1 ), 37 0/7 -41 6/7  weeks' postmenstrual age (T 2 ), and 42 0/7 -52 0/7  weeks' postmenstrual age (T 3 ). The echogenicity of parieto-occipital periventricular WM relative to that of homolateral choroid plexus (RE CP ) was calculated on parasagittal scans by means of pixel brightness intensity and its relationship with Bayley-III assessment at 12 months' corrected age was evaluated. We demonstrated that: (1) Left RE CP values at T 1 negatively correlated with cognitive composite scores; (2) Right RE CP values at T 2 and T 3 negatively correlated with language composite scores; (3) Left RE CP values at T 1 and T 2 negatively correlated with motor composite scores. Thus, this technique may be used as screening method to early identify patients at risk of neurodevelopmental issues and promptly initiate preventive and therapeutic interventions., (© 2023. Springer Nature Limited.)

Current guidelines for preterm newborns recommend high energy nutrition soon after birth in order to limit growth retardation. However, long-term effects of this nutritional approach are still debated, and it has been demonstrated that cerebral growth depends on protein intake in early life. A negative impact of early high energy intake by parenteral nutrition (PN) has been reported for patients in critically ill conditions, observed in intensive care unit. We aimed at evaluating the impact of energy intake on cerebral growth in preterm neonates early in life. We included preterm newborns with gestational age < 32 weeks or birth weight (BW) < 1500 g. Measurement of cerebral structures was performed by cranial Ultrasonography (cUS) between 3 and 7 days of life (DOL, T0) and at 28 DOL (T1). We evaluated the relation between energy intake and cerebral growth in the first 28 DOL. We observed in 109 preterm newborns a significant (p < 0.05) negative correlation between energy intake received by PN and right caudate head growth (r = - 0.243*) and a positive correlation between total energy intake and transverse cerebellum diameter (r = 0.254*). Multivariate analysis showed that energy intake administered by enteral nutrition (EN), independently increased growth of left caudate head (β = 0.227*) and height cerebellar vermis (β = 0.415*), while PN independently affected growth of both right and left caudate head (β = - 0.164* and β = - 0.228*, respectively) and cerebellum transverse diameter (β = - 0.849*). The route of energy administration may exert different effects on cerebral growth in early life. High energy intake administered through EN seems to be positively correlated to cerebral growth; conversely, PN energy intake results in a poorer cerebral growth evaluated with cUS., (© 2021. The Author(s).)