Manual segmentation of orbital magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is labor-intensive, hindering large-scale morphometric studies. To overcome this, we developed a fully automated deep learning pipeline to segment orbital MRIs and establish age- and sex-stratified normative reference data. We analyzed T1-weighted brain MRIs from 30,868 participants in the population-based German National Cohort (NAKO). After quality control, 28,779 participants (mean age 48.1 years; 44.1% female) were included. The model, validated against expert manual segmentations, accurately extracted 34 volumetric and geometric parameters across 15 orbital structures (Dice Similarity Coefficients: vitreous 0.97, lens 0.89, optic nerve 0.85). Mean [SD] axial length was 23.5 [1.2] mm. Mean [SD] volumes were 34.4 [3.9] cm³ for total orbital contents, 6.3 [0.8] cm³ for the vitreous, and 0.17 [0.03] cm³ for the lens. Males exhibited significantly larger dimensions across all parameters (p < 0.001). Age-stratified percentile curves revealed continuous age-dependent lens growth (Spearman’s ρ = 0.57 in men, 0.51 in women) alongside modest volume increases in the orbit, optic nerve, and extraocular muscles. This deep learning tool effectively resolved the bottleneck of manual segmentation, providing comprehensive orbital reference data for the German population. This foundation enables future high-throughput epidemiological research into the associations between orbital anatomy, systemic health, and disease.
Navid Farassat, M. Reisert, Susanne Rospleszcz et al.· Scientific Reports· 0 citations
BACKGROUND
Lead is a well-recognized neurotoxic metal with demonstrated consistent detrimental effects on children's intelligence quotient (IQ) in the postnatal period. However, there is no such consensus about the effects of prenatal exposures.
AIM
We aimed to examine the effect of prenatal lead exposure on children's intelligence quotient.
METHODOLOGY
We conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis based on three databases: PubMed (MEDLINE), Web of Science, and Lilacs (Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature). We included studies where exposure involved biomarkers of lead exposure (e.g., blood, urine, etc.) during the prenatal period, and global IQ assessments were conducted in children aged 5 years or older. We standardized the estimates to linear point estimates. The Risk of Bias (RoB) in Non-randomized Studies of Exposures (ROBINS-E) tool was used to evaluate potential systematic errors. We analyzed the pooled estimates using random effects models, also considering fixed effects models. Pooled effects were examined separately by sex. To assess heterogeneity across studies, we employed the I2 statistic and Cochran's Q test.
RESULTS
Only 7 studies were included in analyses. In those studies evaluating blood lead levels, we found a modest negative association between prenatal Pb and standardized IQ scores, although the confidence interval included the null value (β: -0.06; 95%CI: -0.17, 0.05; I2: 24.1%).
CONCLUSION
Results from our study suggest that prenatal lead exposure may be associated with modestly lower intelligence quotient scores in children 5 years and older. However, research is sparse and more studies are needed to investigate confounding factors and whether the effect varies by sex.
V. Flórez-García, Edwin Guevara-Romero, J. Rod et al.· Ecotoxicology and Environmen...· 0 citations
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