Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40780081›Full record

Observational studyEarly human development2025

Brain ultrasound radiomics identify textural differences in basal ganglia and white matter between full term newborns HIV-exposed uninfected and HIV-unexposed in Botswana.

Laith R Sultan, Karen I Ramirez-Suarez, Sara Rae Schenkel, Monica Miranda Schaeubinger, Carmen Cerron-Vela, Samuel W Kgole, Gosego Masasa, Boitshepo Phale, Joseph Makhema, Thuso Mokane and 3 more

Abstract readObservational Study
In one paragraph

Observational study in Early human development, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Laith R SultanDepartment of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, USA. Electronic address: sultanl@chop.edu.
Karen I Ramirez-SuarezDepartment of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Sara Rae SchenkelDivision of Pediatric Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Monica Miranda SchaeubingerDepartment of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Carmen Cerron-VelaDepartment of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Samuel W KgoleBotswana Harvard Health Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana.
Gosego MasasaBotswana Harvard Health Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana.
Boitshepo PhaleBotswana Harvard Health Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana.
Joseph MakhemaBotswana Harvard Health Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana.
Thuso MokaneBotswana Harvard Health Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana.
Elizabeth D LowenthalDepartment of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America; Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine at The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Kathleen M PowisBotswana Harvard Health Partnership, Gaborone, Botswana; Department of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
Hansel J OteroDepartment of Radiology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 3401 Civic Center Blvd, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, United States of America.

Funding

Virus & Reservoirs CoreP30AI045008 · NIAID · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · PI ROBERT GROSS · 1999 to 2026
$78.6M
FLOURISH - Following Longitudinal Outcomes to Understand, Report, Intervene and Sustain Health for Infants, Children, Adolescent who are HIV Exposed UninfectedR33HD103099 · NICHD · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI JAO, JENNIFER, MAKHEMA, JOSEPH MOEKETSI · 2022 to 2024
$2.5M
FLOURISH - Following Longitudinal Outcomes to Understand, Report, Intervene and Sustain Health for Infants, Children, Adolescent who are HIV Exposed UninfectedR61HD103099 · NICHD · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · PI JAO, JENNIFER, MAKHEMA, JOSEPH MOEKETSI · 2020 to 2021
$841k
NIAID NIH HHS P30 AI045008NICHD NIH HHS R33 HD103099NICHD NIH HHS R61 HD103099
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOver 1 million infants born annually with fetal exposure to HIV and maternal antiretroviral treatment (ART) who remain HIV-uninfected (HEU) are at higher risk of neurodevelopmental delays compared to infants HIV-unexposed (HU).

objectiveWe explored the use of brain ultrasound radiomics, specifically texture analysis, as an early imaging neurodevelopmental biomarker, comparing findings by newborn in utero HIV exposure status.

methodsBrain ultrasound was performed on full-term newborns (≥ 37 weeks gestation) enrolled in a prospective observational study in Botswana. Radiomic ultrasound features, including first-order statistics, run-length, and co-occurrence matrix parameters, were extracted from the basal ganglia and periventricular white matter. Statistical comparisons were conducted based on fetal exposure to maternal HIV. The diagnostic performance of individual features was assessed, and logistic regression was used to combine the features for overall performance evaluation.

resultsThirty-three infants (HEU: 20, HU: 13) were included in the analysis. The basal ganglia of HEU infants exhibited significantly lower heterogeneity (176.6 ± 10.76 vs. 205.97 ± 13.26, p = 0.04) and entropy (0.37 ± 0.01 vs. 0.41 ± 0.01, p = 0.03), and marginally lower gray level non-uniformity (310.04 ± 15.32 vs. 352.37 ± 24.20, p = 0.06) compared to HU infants, suggesting reduced parenchymal complexity. These combined radiomic features yielded an AUC of 0.72 with a specificity of 0.86. Similar trends were observed in the white matter, where HEU infants demonstrated marginally lower heterogeneity (191.66 ± 14.32 vs. 231.76 ± 17.34, p = 0.06). Gray level non-uniformity and run length non-uniformity were significantly lower in the HEU group (1996.87 ± 157.06 vs. 2487.43 ± 223.67, p = 0.04 and 284.66 ± 20.37 vs. 406.61 ± 47.77, p = 0.01, respectively). The combined white matter model demonstrated an AUC of 0.76 and a sensitivity of 0.86, indicating greater discriminatory power compared to the basal ganglia.

conclusionUltrasound radiomics reveals distinct differences in brain texture between HEU and HU newborns, with significant findings in both basal ganglia and white matter features. These results highlight the potential of radiomics in identifying subtle neuroanatomical variations. Further research is needed to explore the neurodevelopmental implications of these findings.

Indexed as

Basal GangliaHIV InfectionsWhite MatterBotswanaFemaleHumansInfant, NewbornMalePregnancyProspective StudiesRadiomicsUltrasonographyAntiretroviral exposureBasal gangliaBrain ultrasoundEarly brain developmentHIV-exposed uninfected newbornsNeonatal neuroimagingNeurodevelopmental risk assessmentPeriventricular white matterQuantitative imaging biomarkersRadiomics

Identifiers

PMID40780081
PMCPMC12638123

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.