MRI ASSESSMENT OF MYELINATION - AN AGE STANDARDIZATION

777 cerebral MRI examinations of children aged 3 days to 14 years were staged for myelination to establish an age standardization. Staging w as performed using a system proposed in a previous paper [1], separate ly ranking 10 different regions of the brain. Interpretation of the re sults led to the identification of four clinical diagnoses that are fr equently associated with delays in myelination: West syndrome, cerebra l palsy, developmental retardation, and congenital anomalies. In addit ion, it was found that assessment of myelination in children with head injuries was not practical as alterations in MRI signal can simulate earlier stages of myelination. Age limits were therefore calculated fr om the case material after excluding all children with these condition s. When simplifications of the definition of the stages are applied, t hese age limits for the various stages of myelination of each of the 1 0 regions of the brain make the staging system applicable for routine assessment of myelination.