Neurovisualization features of brain anatomy in children with spastic cerebral palsy revealed by magnetic resonance tractography

Aim. To perform quantitative evaluation of the degree of white matter tract abnormalities in children with spastic cerebral palsy by magnetic resonance tractography to determine severity of the disease, as well as to carry out a dynamic assessment of treatment effectiveness.Materials and methods. The study included 46 children (32 males, 14 females; average age 5.4 ± 1.1 years). The participants were divided into two groups. The experimental group consisted of 23 children with spastic cerebral palsy. The control group included 23 children without any neurological disorder. Examination of the brain was performed on the Siemens Essenza 1,5 Т system (Siemens, Germany) and included magnetic resonance tractography to reconstruct the major white matter tracts. The number of fibers, average fractional anisotropy value, apparent diffusion coefficient, and coefficient of myelination of major white matter tracts in the brain were calculated and analyzed.Results. We found a significant difference in the above-stated parameters between the groups. The experimental group showed a decrease in the absolute number of fibers at the central and posterior segments of the corpus callosum, corticospinal tracts, and left inferior longitudinal fasciculus. Besides, we detected a decrease in fractional anisotropy at 2–5 segments of the corpus callosum and right lateral corticospinal tract, an increase in the apparent diffusion coefficient at 2, 4, and 5 segments of the corpus callosum and left lateral corticospinal tract, and a decrease in the myelination coefficient in all the examined tracts, except for superior longitudinal fasciculus. We revealed a positive correlation between the intensity of the motor disturbance and the coefficient of myelination at the anterior corpus callosum and inferior longitudinal fasciculus.Conclusion. Magnetic resonance tractography is an informative technique for unbiased evaluation of white matter tract anatomy, as well the level and degree of motor tract damage. The most useful characteristics of white matter tract anatomy are the absolute number of fibers in the tract, fractional anisotropy, and coefficient of myelination. Some of them correlated with the intensity of motor disturbance, so they can be regarded as potential predictors of rehabilitation potential.

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Novel strain analysis informs about injury susceptibility of the corpus callosum to repeated impacts

Brain Communications ◽

10.1093/braincomms/fcz021 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Allen A Champagne ◽

Emile Peponoulas ◽

Itamar Terem ◽

Andrew Ross ◽

Maryam Tayebi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

White Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Corpus Callosum ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

White Matter Integrity ◽

White Matter Tract ◽

Exposure Group ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

High Exposure

Abstract Increasing evidence for the cumulative effects of head trauma on structural integrity of the brain has emphasized the need to understand the relationship between tissue mechanic properties and injury susceptibility. Here, diffusion tensor imaging, helmet accelerometers and amplified magnetic resonance imaging were combined to gather insight about the region-specific vulnerability of the corpus callosum to microstructural changes in white-matter integrity upon exposure to sub-concussive impacts. A total of 33 male Canadian football players (meanage = 20.3 ± 1.4 years) were assessed at three time points during a football season (baseline pre-season, mid-season and post-season). The athletes were split into a LOW (N = 16) and HIGH (N = 17) exposure group based on the frequency of sub-concussive impacts sustained on a per-session basis, measured using the helmet-mounted accelerometers. Longitudinal decreases in fractional anisotropy were observed in anterior and posterior regions of the corpus callosum (average cluster size = 40.0 ± 4.4 voxels; P < 0.05, corrected) for athletes from the HIGH exposure group. These results suggest that the white-matter tract may be vulnerable to repetitive sub-concussive collisions sustained over the course of a football season. Using these findings as a basis for further investigation, a novel exploratory analysis of strain derived from sub-voxel motion of brain tissues in response to cardiac impulses was developed using amplified magnetic resonance imaging. This approach revealed specific differences in strain (and thus possibly stiffness) along the white-matter tract (P < 0.0001) suggesting a possible signature relationship between changes in white-matter integrity and tissue mechanical properties. In light of these findings, additional information about the viscoelastic behaviour of white-matter tissues may be imperative in elucidating the mechanisms responsible for region-specific differences in injury susceptibility observed, for instance, through changes in microstructural integrity following exposure to sub-concussive head impacts.

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Assessment of White Matter Lesions in Parkinson's Disease: Voxel-based Analysis and Tract-based Spatial Statistics Analysis of Parkinson's Disease with Mild Cognitive Impairment

Current Neurovascular Research ◽

10.2174/1567202617666200901181842 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 480-486

Author(s):

Wei Pu ◽

Xudong Shen ◽

Mingming Huang ◽

Zhiqian Li ◽

Xianchun Zeng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Parkinson’S Disease ◽

Parkinson's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

White Matter ◽

Corpus Callosum ◽

Fractional Anisotropy ◽

Spatial Statistics ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Tract Based Spatial Statistics

Objective: Application of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to explore the changes of FA value in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) with mild cognitive impairment. Methods: 27 patients with PD were divided into PD with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) group (n = 7) and PD group (n = 20). The original images were processed using voxel-based analysis (VBA) and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Results: The average age of pd-mci group was longer than that of PD group, and the course of disease was longer than that of PD group. Compared with PD group, the voxel based analysis-fractional anisotropy (VBA-FA) values of PD-MCI group decreased in the following areas: bilateral frontal lobe, bilateral temporal lobe, bilateral parietal lobe, bilateral subthalamic nucleus, corpus callosum, and gyrus cingula. Tract-based spatial statistics-fractional anisotropy (TBSS-FA) values in PD-MCI group decreased in bilateral corticospinal tract, anterior cingulum, posterior cingulum, fornix tract, bilateral superior thalamic radiation, corpus callosum(genu, body and splenium), bilateral uncinate fasciculus, bilateral inferior longitudinal fasciculus, bilateral superior longitudinal fasciculus, bilateral superior fronto-occipital fasciculus, bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and bilateral parietal-occipital tracts. The mean age of onset in the PD-MCI group was greater than that in the PD group, and the disease course was longer than that in the PD group. Conclusion: DTI-based VBA and TBSS post-processing methods can detect abnormalities in multiple brain areas and white matter fiber tracts in PD-MCI patients. Impairment of multiple cerebral cortex and white matter fiber pathways may be an important causes of cognitive dysfunction in PD-MCI.

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P5 – 2504: The magnetic resonance imaging as a diagnostic tool in unilateral spastic cerebral palsy

European Journal of Paediatric Neurology ◽

10.1016/s1090-3798(15)30318-4 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 19 ◽

pp. S96

Author(s):

F. Hadzagic Catibusic ◽

Z. Merhemic ◽

S. Zubcevic ◽

S. Uzicanin ◽

B. Krdzalic

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Cerebral Palsy ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Diagnostic Tool ◽

Spastic Cerebral Palsy ◽

Resonance Imaging

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Structural disconnectivity in schizophrenia: a diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging study

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.182.5.439 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 182 (5) ◽

pp. 439-443 ◽

Cited By ~ 229

Author(s):

J. Burns ◽

D. Job ◽

M. E. Bastin ◽

H. Whalley ◽

T. Macgillivray ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

White Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Fractional Anisotropy ◽

Structural Integrity ◽

Diffusion Tensor ◽

Uncinate Fasciculus ◽

Arcuate Fasciculus ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

White Matter Tracts

BackgroundThere is growing evidence that schizophrenia is a disorder of cortical connectivity Specifically, frontotemporal and frontoparietal connections are thought to be functionally impaired. Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT–MRI) is a technique that has the potential to demonstrate structural disconnectivity in schizophrenia.AimsTo investigate the structural integrity of frontotemporal and frontoparietal white matter tracts in schizophrenia.MethodThirty patients with DSM–IV schizophrenia and thirty matched control subjects underwent DT–MRI and structural MRI. Fractional anisotropy – an index of the integrity of white matter tracts – was determined in the uncinate fasciculus, the anterior cingulum and the arcuate fasciculus and analysed using voxel-based morphometry.ResultsThere was reduced fractional anisotropy in the left uncinate fasciculus and left arcuate fasciculus in patients with schizophrenia compared with controls.ConclusionsThe findings of reduced white matter tract integrity in the left uncinate fasciculus and left arcuate fasciculus suggest that there is frontotemporal and frontoparietal structural disconnectivity in schizophrenia.

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A Connectomic Atlas of the Human Cerebrum—Chapter 13: Tractographic Description of the Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus

Operative Neurosurgery ◽

10.1093/ons/opy267 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (suppl_1) ◽

pp. S436-S443 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Andrew K Conner ◽

Robert G Briggs ◽

Goksel Sali ◽

Meherzad Rahimi ◽

Cordell M Baker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

White Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Language Processing ◽

White Matter Tract ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Large White ◽

Human Cortex ◽

Human Connectome Project ◽

And Function

ABSTRACT The inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF) is a large white matter tract of the human cerebrum with functional connectivity associated with semantic language processing and goal-oriented behavior. However, little is known regarding the overall connectivity of this tract. Recently, the Human Connectome Project parcellated the human cortex into 180 distinct regions. In our other work, we have shown these various regions in relation to clinically applicable anatomy and function. Utilizing Diffusion Spectrum Magnetic Resonance Imaging tractography coupled with the human cortex parcellation data presented earlier in this supplement, we aim to describe the macro-connectome of the IFOF in relation to the linked parcellations present within the human cortex. The purpose of this study is to present this information in an indexed, illustrated, and tractographically aided series of figures and tables for anatomic and clinical reference.

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In vivo gradients of thalamic damage in paediatric multiple sclerosis: a window into pathology

Brain ◽

10.1093/brain/awaa379 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Ermelinda De Meo ◽

Loredana Storelli ◽

Lucia Moiola ◽

Angelo Ghezzi ◽

Pierangelo Veggiotti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Multiple Sclerosis ◽

White Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Fractional Anisotropy ◽

Mean Diffusivity ◽

White Matter Lesions ◽

Healthy Controls ◽

Paediatric Multiple Sclerosis ◽

Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Abstract The thalamus represents one of the first structures affected by neurodegenerative processes in multiple sclerosis. A greater thalamic volume reduction over time, on its CSF side, has been described in paediatric multiple sclerosis patients. However, its determinants and the underlying pathological changes, likely occurring before this phenomenon becomes measurable, have never been explored. Using a multiparametric magnetic resonance approach, we quantified, in vivo, the different processes that can involve the thalamus in terms of focal lesions, microstructural damage and atrophy in paediatric multiple sclerosis patients and their distribution according to the distance from CSF/thalamus interface and thalamus/white matter interface. In 70 paediatric multiple sclerosis patients and 26 age- and sex-matched healthy controls, we tested for differences in thalamic volume and quantitative MRI metrics—including fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity and T1/T2-weighted ratio—in the whole thalamus and in thalamic white matter, globally and within concentric bands originating from CSF/thalamus interface. In paediatric multiple sclerosis patients, the relationship of thalamic abnormalities with cortical thickness and white matter lesions was also investigated. Compared to healthy controls, patients had significantly increased fractional anisotropy in whole thalamus (f2 = 0.145; P = 0.03), reduced fractional anisotropy (f2 = 0.219; P = 0.006) and increased mean diffusivity (f2 = 0.178; P = 0.009) in thalamic white matter and a trend towards a reduced thalamic volume (f2 = 0.027; P = 0.058). By segmenting the whole thalamus and thalamic white matter into concentric bands, in paediatric multiple sclerosis we detected significant fractional anisotropy abnormalities in bands nearest to CSF (f2 = 0.208; P = 0.002) and in those closest to white matter (f2 range = 0.183–0.369; P range = 0.010–0.046), while we found significant mean diffusivity (f2 range = 0.101–0.369; P range = 0.018–0.042) and T1/T2-weighted ratio (f2 = 0.773; P = 0.001) abnormalities in thalamic bands closest to CSF. The increase in fractional anisotropy and decrease in mean diffusivity detected at the CSF/thalamus interface correlated with cortical thickness reduction (r range = −0.27–0.34; P range = 0.004–0.028), whereas the increase in fractional anisotropy detected at the thalamus/white matter interface correlated with white matter lesion volumes (r range = 0.24–0.27; P range = 0.006–0.050). Globally, our results support the hypothesis of heterogeneous pathological processes, including retrograde degeneration from white matter lesions and CSF-mediated damage, leading to thalamic microstructural abnormalities, likely preceding macroscopic tissue loss. Assessing thalamic microstructural changes using a multiparametric magnetic resonance approach may represent a target to monitor the efficacy of neuroprotective strategies early in the disease course.

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White matter magnetic resonance imaging hyperintensity in Alzheimer's disease: correlations with corpus callosum atrophy

Journal of Neurology ◽

10.1007/bf00868519 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 243 (3) ◽

pp. 231-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

Patrick Vermersch ◽

Jean Roche ◽

Mich�le Hamon ◽

Christine Daems-Monpeurt ◽

Jean-Pierre Pruvo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

White Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Corpus Callosum ◽

Resonance Imaging

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A Connectomic Atlas of the Human Cerebrum—Chapter 10: Tractographic Description of the Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus

Operative Neurosurgery ◽

10.1093/ons/opy264 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 15 (suppl_1) ◽

pp. S407-S422 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Andrew K Conner ◽

Robert G Briggs ◽

Meherzad Rahimi ◽

Goksel Sali ◽

Cordell M Baker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽

White Matter ◽

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Cognitive Functions ◽

White Matter Tract ◽

Resonance Imaging ◽

Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus ◽

Human Cortex ◽

Human Connectome Project ◽

Attention Memory

ABSTRACT The superior longitudinal fasciculus/arcuate white matter complex (SLF/AC) is the largest and most complex white matter tract of the human cerebrum with multiple inter-linked connections encompassing multiple cognitive functions such as language, attention, memory, emotion, and visuospatial function. However, little is known regarding the overall connectivity of this complex. Recently, the Human Connectome Project parcellated the human cortex into 180 distinct regions. Utilizing diffusion spectrum magnetic resonance imaging tractography coupled with the human cortex parcellation data presented earlier in this supplement, we aim to describe the macro-connectome of the SLF/AC in relation to the linked parcellations present within the human cortex. The purpose of this study is to present this information in an indexed, illustrated, and tractographically aided series of figures and tables for anatomic and clinical reference.

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