Observational studyThe Journal of pediatrics2025
Prenatal Opioid Exposure Is Associated with Punctate White Matter Lesions in Term Newborns.
Observational study in The Journal of pediatrics, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04149509 (ACT NOW Longitudinal Study), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
ACT NOW Longitudinal Study: Outcomes of Babies With Opioid Exposure Study
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Hippocampal Development in a Rat Model of Perigestational Opioid Exposure.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo assess whether prenatal opioid exposure is associated with punctate white matter lesions (PWMLs) on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a large prospective cohort of term newborns. STUDY
designNewborns ≥37 weeks of gestation with prenatal opioid exposure and unexposed controls underwent brain MRI at 0-1 months of age in the prospective observational Outcomes of Babies with Opioid Exposure study. Exposure status was based on maternal self-report and maternal or neonatal toxicology screening. MRIs were scored by two pediatric neuroradiologists masked to exposure. Multinomial logistic regression was used to compute ORs for PWML by opioid exposure, adjusting for various confounders.
resultsOpioid-exposed newborns (n = 165) had lower birth weight and smaller head circumference and were more likely to have mothers who smoked, were positive for hepatitis C, and had limited education than unexposed neonates (n = 94); 27% of exposed newborns had 1 or more PWMLs compared with 13% of unexposed newborns (P = .031). After adjusting for covariates, opioid exposure was associated with higher odds of PWML (aOR: 2.68, 95% CI: 1.07-6.72, P = .04), with methadone exposure worse than buprenorphine and other opioids (aOR: 3.25, 95% CI: 1.21-8.75, P = .02).
conclusionsPrenatal opioid exposure is associated with an increased risk of PWML in newborns, with methadone exposure significantly worse than buprenorphine. As PWML are associated with adverse neurologic outcomes in other populations, follow-up will evaluate if these lesions significantly impact neurodevelopmental outcomes.
trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT04149509.
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