Hypothesis: at 14 years, subjects born before 33 weeks of gestation (VPT) have more brain lesions than their peers born at term.

Study design: prospective cohort study with controls.

Samples: in 1979-80, 105 VPT infants survived after admission to the Neonatal Unit, University College London Hospital (UCLH). At a mean age of 14.9 years, 70 of the 92 survivors living in the UK and 20 age-matched controls born in UCLH at term, had brain MRI.

Measurements: using a 1.5T GE Signa machine, images were obtained in axial, sagittal and 3D weighted gradient echo sequence. Qualitative assessment of the images as normal, equivocal or abnormal was made by two neuroradiologists blind to subject or control status.

Results: controls n=20, 14 normal, 5 equivocal, 1 abnormal MRI. subjects n=70, 16 normal, 13 equivocal, 41 abnormal MRI. MRI abnormalities in the subjects: 38/70 ventricular dilatation, 27/70 corpus callosum atrophy, 19/70 abnormal white matter signal, 11/70 reduced white matter signal, 1/70 cyst.

Conclusion: brain MRI reveals a very significant (p<0.0005) excess of brain lesions in VPT subjects compared to their term peers.