ORIGINAL ARTICLE Quantification of structural changes in the corpus callosum

Background Birth-related acute profound hypoxic–ischaemic brain injury has specific patterns of damage including the paracentral lobules. Objective To test the hypothesis that there is anatomically co-herent regional volume loss of the corpus callosum as a result of this hemispheric abnormality. Materials and methods Study subjects included 13 children with proven acute profound hypoxic–ischaemic brain injury and 13 children with developmental delay but no brain abnor-malities. A computerised system divided the corpus callosum into 100 segments, measuring each width. Principal component analysis grouped the widths into contiguous anatomical regions. We conducted analysis of variance of corpus callosumwidths as well as support vector machine stratification into patient groups. Results There was statistically significant narrowing of the mid–posterior body and genu of the corpus callosum in children with hypoxic–ischaemic brain injury. Support vector machine analysis yielded over 95 % accuracy in patient group stratifica-tion using the corpus callosum centile widths. Conclusion Focal volume loss is seen in the corpus callosum of children with hypoxic–ischaemic brain injury secondary to loss of commissural fibres arising in the paracentral lobules. Support vector machine stratification into the hypoxic–ischae-mic brain injury group or the control group on the basis of corpus callosum width is highly accurate and points towards rapid clinical translation of this technique as a potential bio-marker of hypoxic–ischaemic brain injury