Exploring structural brain changes in children with neonatal brachial plexus palsy: a voxel-based morphometry analysis

Genes and Cells. 2023. Vol. 18. No. 4. P. 331–339.

Kadieva D., Gallo F., Ulanov M., Shestakova A., Moiseeva V., Hodorovskaya A., Agranovich O.

BACKGROUND: Obstetric brachial plexus palsy (OBPP) is paralysis of the upper limb resulting from nerve injury during vaginal delivery. Although current treatment approaches frequently lead to complete reinnervation of the limb, some patients show long-term motor deficits. These impairments may result from upper limb disuse that causes structural brain changes.

AIM: This study aimed to compare deep gray matter volumes between children with OBPP and healthy controls.

METHODS: We analyzed the structural magnetic resonance imaging results of 46 children with OBPP (n=24, mean age — 10.20, of whom 12 were girls) and healthy age-matched controls (n=22, mean age — 9.63, of whom 10 were girls) using a voxel-based morphometry technique in SPM12 package (Statistical Parametric Mapping) in MATLAB R2019b. To minimize false discoveries, we used a stringent procedure to control the family-wise error rate.

RESULTS: We found volumetric brain differences between children with OBPP and healthy controls (all FWE-corrected p <0.005). Children with OBPP had significantly lower gray matter volumes in the left amygdala, bilateral hippocampus, and right entorhinal cortex.

CONCLUSION: Integrating our findings with previous work, we speculate that the amygdala–hippocampus–entorhinal cortex complex might play a significant role in motor disorders.

Keywords: gray matter density, Motor disorder, obstetric brachial plexus palsy