TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterisation of ASD traits among a cohort of children with isolated fetal ventriculomegaly
AU - Kyriakopoulou, Vanessa
AU - Davidson, Alice
AU - Chew, Andrew
AU - Gupta, Nidhi
AU - Arichi, Tomoki
AU - Nosarti, Chiara
AU - Rutherford, Mary
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the families who participated in this study.The authors acknowledge support in part from the Wellcome Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Centre for Medical Engineering at Kings College London [WT 203148/Z/16/Z], and the Department of Health through an NIHR Comprehensive Biomedical Research Centre Award (to Guy’s and St. Thomas’ National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London and King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust). MR and TA received support from the Medical Research Council Centre for Neurodevelopmental Disorders, King’s College London [Grant MR/N026063/1]. TA was supported by a MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship [MR/P008712/1] and Transition Support Award [MR/V036874/1].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/3/21
Y1 - 2023/3/21
N2 - Fetal ventriculomegaly is the most common antenatally-diagnosed brain abnormality. Imaging studies in antenatal isolated ventriculomegaly demonstrate enlarged ventricles and cortical overgrowth which are also present in children with autism-spectrum disorder/condition (ASD). We investigate the presence of ASD traits in a cohort of children (n = 24 [20 males/4 females]) with isolated fetal ventriculomegaly, compared with 10 controls (n = 10 [6 males/4 females]). Neurodevelopmental outcome at school age included IQ, ASD traits (ADOS-2), sustained attention, neurological functioning, behaviour, executive function, sensory processing, co-ordination, and adaptive behaviours. Pre-school language development was assessed at 2 years. 37.5% of children, all male, in the ventriculomegaly cohort scored above threshold for autism/ASD classification. Pre-school language delay predicted an ADOS-2 autism/ASD classification with 73.3% specificity/66.7% sensitivity. Greater pre-school language delay was associated with more ASD symptoms. In this study, the neurodevelopment of children with isolated fetal ventriculomegaly, associated with altered cortical development, includes ASD traits, difficulties in sustained attention, working memory and sensation-seeking behaviours.
AB - Fetal ventriculomegaly is the most common antenatally-diagnosed brain abnormality. Imaging studies in antenatal isolated ventriculomegaly demonstrate enlarged ventricles and cortical overgrowth which are also present in children with autism-spectrum disorder/condition (ASD). We investigate the presence of ASD traits in a cohort of children (n = 24 [20 males/4 females]) with isolated fetal ventriculomegaly, compared with 10 controls (n = 10 [6 males/4 females]). Neurodevelopmental outcome at school age included IQ, ASD traits (ADOS-2), sustained attention, neurological functioning, behaviour, executive function, sensory processing, co-ordination, and adaptive behaviours. Pre-school language development was assessed at 2 years. 37.5% of children, all male, in the ventriculomegaly cohort scored above threshold for autism/ASD classification. Pre-school language delay predicted an ADOS-2 autism/ASD classification with 73.3% specificity/66.7% sensitivity. Greater pre-school language delay was associated with more ASD symptoms. In this study, the neurodevelopment of children with isolated fetal ventriculomegaly, associated with altered cortical development, includes ASD traits, difficulties in sustained attention, working memory and sensation-seeking behaviours.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85150752267&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41467-023-37242-0
DO - 10.1038/s41467-023-37242-0
M3 - Article
SN - 2041-1723
VL - 14
JO - Nature Communications
JF - Nature Communications
IS - 1
M1 - 1550
ER -