Metabolic alterations in the neonate and infant brain during development: evaluation with proton MR spectroscopy.

PURPOSE To evaluate the usefulness of hydrogen-1 magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy in the evaluation of the developing brain. MATERIALS AND METHODS Localized MR spectra were obtained with an echo time of 272 msec from the brain of 78 neonates and infants aged 1 week to 100 months. All patients were retrospectively classified into three groups on the basis of neurologic development: abnormal (group 2, n = 21), normal despite minor neurologic signs (group 1, n = 23), and normal (group 0, n = 34). RESULTS Seventeen patients in group 2 and eight patients in group 1 revealed abnormally low N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/choline or NAA/creatine ratios compared with those obtained in group 0. MR spectroscopy was slightly more useful in the differentiation of patients in groups 2 and 1 (chi 2 test, P < .005) than MR imaging (P < .01). CONCLUSION H-1 MR spectroscopy provides prognostic information about the brain in healthy and neurologically damaged infants and augments the value of MR imaging.