Kim Annink

103 The long-term effect of perinatal asphyxia on hippocampal volumes Table 3 shows the models for the memory tests for which the hippocampal volume was a significant predictor. The socioeconomic status and HIE were significantly associated with IQ (IQ = 104.23 + -10.58*HIE1 + -18.76*HIE2 + 4.69*SES2 + 15.17*SES3). For IQ analysis, the percentage hippocampus/ICV was corrected for the age of testing, but was not a significant predictor. Table 3: The influence of percentage hippocampus/ICV on memory in multivariable linear regression analysis. Possible items in model Model visuospatial long-term memory (immediate) 1 Model visuospatial long-term memory (total) 1 Model visuospatial long-term memory (delayed) 1 Intercept 115.04 (p = 0.028) 471.23 (p = 0.021) 3.84 (p = 0.234) HIE1 -1.54 (p = 0.024) -5.87 (p = 0.028) -1.16 (p = 0.129) HIE2 -2.10 (p = 0.004) -8.52 (p = 0.003) -2.27 (p = 0.006) Age -11.31 (p = 0.031) -45.46 (p = 0.028) n/a Percentage hippocampus/ICV -177.17 (p = 0.055)) -808.30 (p = 0.026) 9.95 (p = 0.082) Age*percentage hippocampus/ICV 19.06 (p = 0.041) 84.58 (p = 0.021) n/a 1 ß-coefficients and p-values are shown for the variables included in the final models. DISCUSSION In the current study, we reported hippocampal volumes and the association with cognitive outcome at the age of 9 to 10 years in a cohort of children who suffered HIE following presumed perinatal asphyxia. We first showed that hippocampal volumes in children with a history of moderate HIE were significantly smaller compared to controls, with a trend toward smaller volumes following mild HIE. As previously reported, infants with moderate HIE were found to have poorer long-term episodic memory and lower IQ scores than controls (10). Finally, multivariable linear regression showed that the hippocampal volume as a percentage of ICV was positively associated with visuospatial long-term memory, suggesting that poor visuospatial long-term memory following HIE can be mediated by hippocampal damage. To the best of our knowledge, this is the largest study investigating the effect of neonatal HIE on hippocampal volumes, but smaller studies have been published that are in agreement with our finding that children with HIE have reduced bilateral 5