CAJ | 학술논문

Objective To know the growth of the cerebellum in newborn infants. Methods The central vermian area (CVA) of the cerebellum was measured by head ultrasonography in 90 newborns including 65full- terms, 14 preterms and 11 small for gestational age infants (SGA). Results The average age of the newborn infants were 4.7d (3～7d). The mean CVA in full- terms was 5.8±0.8cm2, which was significantly greater than that in preterms (3.7±1.0cm2), and SGA (5.1±0.8cm2), respectively. However, when corrected for birth weight (BW), the ratio of CVA/BW in term SGA was 2.07, being significantly higher than the ratio of 1.72 in normal full-term newborns. There was no difference between male and female infants. Statistically significant relationships were found between CVA and BW (r=0.8129, P＜0.01) and between CVA and gestational age (r=0.7450, P＜0.01). Conclusion The study provide some understanding on the growth of the cerebellum, and the cerebellar measurement by cranial ultrasound is helpful for the assessment of neurological maturation in newborn infants.