Investigation of Brain Volume Changes by MRI in Children with Down Syndrome

Down Syndrome (DS) is the most common genetic difference known as genetic etiology (trisomy 21). The aims of the neuroradiological study were to find causes of the cognitive and developmental deficiencies of adolescents with DS and to investigate the volumetric changes of brain which is risk for Alzheimer Disease (AD) and Dementia. 14 healthy and 14 DS adolescents were included between the ages of 13-18 in the study. We compared the volume of brain areas of DS and healthy adolescents with the VolBrain automatic segmentation method which was not previously used in DS. In order to determine the relationship between brain volume and motor movements, daily living activities, balance and coordination of DS patients, PBS, WeeFIM and GMFM-88 evaluation tests were performed. In the literature, we could not find study any correlation between brain volume measurements and motor, balance and coordination tests. Consistent with previos findings, the DS group had statistically significant smaller than control group in the intracranial cavity (ICC), TBV, GM and WM, cerebrum, cerebellum, brainstem, thalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, globus pallidus and nucleus accumbens, except for lateral ventricles, nucleus caudatus and putamen. There were no significant differences for brain asymmetries when comparing the DS and control groups but lateral ventricles were found statistically significant. The DS group had statistically significant smaller than control group in the GMFM-88 and PBS values (p<0,05). In addition, there was no correlation between the brain structure volumes of the PBS in DS (p>0,05). However, there was a positive and significant relationship between GMFM-88 and bilateral-left nucleus caudatus (p<0,05). Looking at the correlation between WeeFIM and overall brain structures, we were founded a statistically significant relationship between TBV, total WM, cerebrum, cerebrum WM, cerebrum right and left hemisphere, putamen and nucleus accumbens and WeeFIM (p<0,05). In our study, it was contributed to the literature by determining the decrease in brain volumes of adolescent DS, and using the VolBrain method and the correlation between brain volume changes with PBS, WeeFIM and GMFM-88 evaluation tests. Keywords: Down Syndrome, Brain Volume, VolBrain, MRI