Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Siblings from Families with Two or More Children with Learning or Intellectual Disabilities and Need for Full-Time Special Education

• Published in: Acta radiologica (1987) 2009-05, Vol.50 (4), p.437-445
• Main Authors: Mannerkoski, M., Heiskala, H., Raininko, R., Åberg, L., Sarna, S., Wirtavuori, K., Autti, T.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Brain - pathology; Child; Education, Special; Female; Humans; Intellectual deficiency; intellectual disability; Intellectual Disability - genetics; Intellectual Disability - pathology; Intellectual Disability - psychology; Intelligence; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); learning disability; Learning Disorders - genetics; Learning Disorders - pathology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; MEDICIN; MEDICINE; MRI; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Siblings; special education
• ISSN: 0284-1851; 1600-0455; 1600-0455
• DOI: 10.1080/02841850902756524

Background: Several factors are involved in determining a child's need for special education (SE). Thus, the value of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for subjects with learning and intellectual disabilities is uncertain. Purpose: To evaluate the usefulness of MRI in the diagnostic process of siblings with learning and intellectual disabilities and need for full-time SE. Material and Methods: Altogether, 119 siblings (mean age 11.9 years) from families in which two or more children attended/had previously attended full-time SE underwent prospective brain MRI. SE grouping included three levels, from specific learning disabilities (level 1) to global intellectual disabilities (level 3). Forty-three controls (level 0, mean age 12.0 years) attended mainstream education groups. Signal intensity and structural abnormalities were analyzed, and areas of the cerebrum, posterior fossa, corpus callosum, vermis and brain stem, and diameters of the corpus callosum were measured. In analyses, all area measurements were calculated in proportion to the total inner skull area. Results: Abnormal finding in MRI was more common for siblings (n=62; 52%) in SE (58% for level 3; 49% for level 2; 35% for level 1) than for controls (n=13; 16%). The siblings showed enlarged supra- (P