HealthDay News – According to a study published online March 22nd in JAMA Neurology, more than 20 percent of children have incidental magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings (IFs) by ages 9-10.
Yi Li, MD, of the University of California, San Francisco, and colleagues examined the overall prevalence of IFs on brain MRI in the non-clinical pediatric population using data for 11,810 children, ages 9-10, who were enrolled and who Baseline imaging in adolescents had completed brain cognitive development study between September 1, 2016 and November 15, 2018. The structural baseline MRIs were checked for IFs and the results were described and categorized.
The researchers found that 11,679 children had interpretable structural MRI baseline results. Of these, 21.1 percent had IFs, including 17.2, 3.7, and 0.2 percent that were Category 2 (no referral recommended), Category 3 (consider referral), or Category 4 (include immediate referral) were assigned. No significant difference was found in the overall rate of IFs between single and twin pregnancies or between monozygous and dizygous twins. The heritability for the presence or absence of IFs was seen in the heritability analysis (h2 = 0.260).
“By examining brain MRIs in this large, demographically diverse sample of US children, we now know with good statistical confidence how common various brain abnormalities are in the general population,” a co-author said in a statement.
Several authors have disclosed financial ties to the medical device and medical technology industries. One author holds patents licensed to Siemens and General Electric.
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Subjects:
Pediatric Neurology
