A Diffusion tensor imaging study to compare normative fractional anisotropy values with patients suffering from Parkinsons disease in the brain grey and white matter (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. RAHUL P KOTIAN ◽  
Dr Prakashini K ◽  
Dr Sreekumaran Nair

BACKGROUND Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) appears as a sensitive method to study Parkinsons disease (PD) pathophysiology and severity. Fractional anisotropy (FA) value is one of the scalar derivatives of DTI used to find out anisotropy within a voxel in a tissue and used for determining white matter integrity in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. We studied DTI derived FA in early PD subjects as their routine MRI scans were normal. OBJECTIVE To compare FA values between normative and subjects with early Parkinson’s disease METHODS 40 patients with early PD and 40 healthy controls were employed to evaluate changes in microstructural white and grey matter in the brains using DTI derived FA values. Comparison of FA values in the brains white and grey matter of patients with PD and age matched controls at the corpus callosum, centrum semiovale, pons, putamen, caudate nucleus, substantia nigra, cerebral peduncles and cerebellar peduncles, was done using a region of interest (ROI) technique, with b-value 1000s/mm2 and TE=100 milliseconds using 1.5T MRI system. RESULTS PD patients showed differences in FA values in both the grey and white matter areas of the brains compared to healthy controls. Our study revealed the presence of damage in the substantia nigra, corpus callosum, putamen and cerebral peduncles mainly in the PD group. CONCLUSIONS Our findings indicate that DTI and region of interest (ROI) methods can be used in patients with early PD to study microstructural alterations mainly in the substantia nigra, putamen and corpus callosum. Keywords: Fractional anisotropy, diffusion tensor imaging, Parkinsons disease, magnetic resonance imaging, neuroimaging. CLINICALTRIAL NA

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul P Kotian ◽  
K Prakashini ◽  
N Sreekumaran Nair

AbstractBackgroundDiffusion tensor imaging (DTI) appears as a sensitive method to study Parkinson’s disease (PD) pathophysiology and severity. Fractional anisotropy (FA) value is one of the scalar derivatives of DTI used to find out anisotropy within a voxel in a tissue and used for determining white matter integrity in aging and neurodegenerative diseases. We studied DTI derived FA in early PD subjects as their routine MRI scans were normal.Methods40 patients with early PD and 40 healthy controls were employed to evaluate changes in microstructural white and grey matter in the brain’s using DTI derived FA values. Comparison of FA values in the brain’s white and grey matter of patients with PD and age matched controls at the corpus callosum, centrum semiovale, pons, putamen, caudate nucleus, substantia nigra, cerebral peduncles and cerebellar peduncles, was done using a region of interest (ROI) technique, with b-value 1000s/mm2 and TE=100 milliseconds using 1.5T MRI system.ResultsPD patients showed differences in FA values in both the grey and white matter areas of the brain’s compared to healthy controls. Our study revealed the presence of damage in the substantia nigra, corpus callosum, putamen and cerebral peduncles mainly in the PD group.ConclusionOur findings indicate that DTI and region of interest (ROI) methods can be used in patients with early PD to study microstructural alterations mainly in the substantia nigra, putamen and corpus callosum.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 205846012199347
Author(s):  
Romulo V de Oliveira ◽  
João S Pereira

Background Diffusion tensor imaging has emerged as a promising tool for quantitative analysis of neuronal damage in Parkinson disease, with potential value for diagnostic and prognostic evaluation. Purpose The aim of this study was to examine Parkinson disease-associated alterations in specific brain regions revealed by diffusion tensor imaging and how such alterations correlate with clinical variables. Material and Methods Diffusion tensor imaging was performed on 42 Parkinson disease patients and 20 healthy controls with a 1.5-T scanner. Manual fractional anisotropy measurements were performed for the ventral, intermediate, and dorsal portions of the substantia nigra, as well as for the cerebral peduncles, putamen, thalamus, and supplementary motor area. The correlation analysis between these measurements and the clinical variables was performed using χ2 variance and multiple linear regression. Results Compared to healthy controls, Parkinson disease patients had significantly reduced fractional anisotropy values in the substantia nigra ( P < .05). Some fractional anisotropy measurements in the substantia nigra correlated inversely with duration of Parkinson disease and Parkinson disease severity scores. Reduced fractional anisotropy values in the substantia nigra were also correlated inversely with age variable. fractional anisotropy values obtained for the right and left putamen varied significantly between males and females in both groups. Conclusion Manual fractional anisotropy measurements in the substantia nigra were confirmed to be feasible with a 1.5-T scanner. Diffusion tensor imaging data can be used as a reliable biomarker of Parkinson disease that can be used to support diagnosis, prognosis, and progression/treatment monitoring.


2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 877-885 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Cheung ◽  
C. Cheung ◽  
G. M. McAlonan ◽  
Y. Deng ◽  
J. G. Wong ◽  
...  

BackgroundDiffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can be used to investigate cerebral structural connectivity in never-medicated individuals with first-episode schizophrenia.MethodSubjects with first-episode schizophrenia according to DSM-IV-R who had never been exposed to antipsychotic medication (n=25) and healthy controls (n=26) were recruited. Groups were matched for age, gender, best parental socio-economic status and ethnicity. All subjects underwent DTI and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Voxel-based analysis was performed to investigate brain regions where fractional anisotropy (FA) values differed significantly between groups. A confirmatory region-of-interest (ROI) analysis of FA scores was performed in which regions were placed blind to group membership.ResultsIn patients, FA values significantly lower than those in healthy controls were located in the left fronto-occipital fasciculus, left inferior longitudinal fasciculus, white matter adjacent to right precuneus, splenium of corpus callosum, right posterior limb of internal capsule, white matter adjacent to right substantia nigra, and left cerebral peduncle. ROI analysis of the corpus callosum confirmed that the patient group had significantly lower mean FA values than the controls in the splenium but not in the genu. The intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) for independent ROI measurements was 0.90 (genu) and 0.90 (splenium). There were no regions where FA values were significantly higher in the patients than in the healthy controls.ConclusionsWidespread structural dysconnectivity, including the subcortical region, is already present in neuroleptic-naive patients in their first episode of illness.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 141-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tue Hartmann ◽  
Sanne Vandborg ◽  
Raben Rosenberg ◽  
Leif Sørensen ◽  
Poul Videbech

BackgroundPrevious morphology and diffusion-imaging studies have suggested that structural changes in white matter is an important part of the pathophysiology of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). However, different methodological approaches and the heterogeneity of patient samples question the validity of the findings.Materials and methodsIn total, 30 patients were matched for age and sex with 30 healthy controls. All participants underwent T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging and T2 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery. Voxel-based morphometry and tract-based spatial statistics were used to compare white matter volumes and diffusion tensor imaging between groups. These data were analysed correcting for the effects of multiple comparisons, age, sex, severity and duration of illness as nuisance covariates. White matter hyperintensities were manually identified.ResultsIncrease in fractional anisotropy in cerebellum was the most prominent result. A decrease in fractional anisotrophy in patients comparable with previous studies was located in forceps minor. There were no differences in the white matter morphology or in the white matter hyperintensities between patients and healthy controls.ConclusionDecrease in fractional anisotrophy in forceps minor and increase in cerebellum were found, and they were not due to neither white matter hyperintensities nor morphology of the white matter. Cerebellar hyperconnectivity could be an important part of OCD pathophysiology.


2011 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 817-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Pichiecchio ◽  
E Tavazzi ◽  
G Poloni ◽  
M Ponzio ◽  
F Palesi ◽  
...  

Background: Several authors have used advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to investigate whether patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) have occult damage in normal-appearing brain tissue, similarly to multiple sclerosis (MS). To date, the literature contains no data derived from the combined use of several advanced MRI techniques in the same NMO subjects. Objective: We set out to determine whether occult damage could be detected in the normal-appearing brain tissue of a small group of patients with NMO using a multiparametric MRI approach. Methods: Eight female patients affected by NMO (age range 44–58 years) and seven sex- and age-matched healthy controls were included. The techniques used on a 1.5 T MRI imaging scanner were magnetization transfer imaging, diffusion tensor imaging, tract-based spatial statistics, spectroscopy and voxel-based morphometry in order to analyse normal-appearing white matter and normal-appearing grey matter. Results: Structural and metabolic parameters showed no abnormalities in normal-appearing white matter of patients with NMO. Conversely, tract-based spatial statistics demonstrated a selective alteration of the optic pathways and the lateral geniculate nuclei. Diffusion tensor imaging values in the normal-appearing grey matter were found to be significantly different in the patients with NMO versus the healthy controls. Moreover, voxel-based morphometry analysis demonstrated a significant density and volume reduction of the sensorimotor cortex and the visual cortex. Conclusions: Our data disclosed occult structural damage in the brain of patients with NMO, predominantly involving regions connected with motor and visual systems. This damage seems to be the direct consequence of transsynaptic degeneration triggered by lesions of the optic nerve and spine.


Neurosurgery ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Nimsky ◽  
Oliver Ganslandt ◽  
Peter Hastreiter ◽  
Ruopeng Wang ◽  
Thomas Benner ◽  
...  

Abstract OBJECTIVE: To investigate the intraoperative displacement of major white matter tracts during glioma resection by comparing preoperative and intraoperative diffusion tensor imaging-based fiber tracking. METHODS: In 37 patients undergoing glioma surgery, preoperative and intraoperative diffusion tensor imaging was performed with a 1.5-T magnetic resonance scanner applying an echo-planar imaging sequence with six diffusion directions. For three-dimensional tractography, we implemented a knowledge-based multiple-region-of-interest approach applying user-defined seed regions in the color-coded maps of fractional anisotropy. Tracking was initiated in both the retrograde and orthograde directions according to the direction of the principal eigenvector in each voxel of the region of interest. The tractography results were also assigned color, applying the convention used in color-coded fractional anisotropy maps. RESULTS: Preoperative and intraoperative fiber tracking was technically feasible in all patients. Fiber tract visualization gave a quick and intuitive overview of the displaced course of white matter tracts in three-dimensional space. Comparison of preoperative and intraoperative tractography depicted a marked shifting of major white matter tracts during glioma removal. Maximum white matter tract shifting ranged from −8 to +15 mm (+2.7 ± 6.0 mm; mean ± standard deviation); in 29.7%, an inward and in 62.2%, an outward shifting was detected. CONCLUSION: Comparing preoperative and intraoperative fiber tracking visualizes a marked shifting and deformation of major white matter tracts because of tumor removal. This shifting emphasizes the need for an intraoperative update of navigation systems during resection of deep-seated tumor portions near eloquent brain areas. Fiber tracking is a method not only for preoperative neurosurgical visualization but also for further intraoperative planning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-486
Author(s):  
Wei Pu ◽  
Xudong Shen ◽  
Mingming Huang ◽  
Zhiqian Li ◽  
Xianchun Zeng ◽  
...  

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.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 454-460
Author(s):  
Dana M Middleton ◽  
Jonathan Y Li ◽  
Steven D Chen ◽  
Leonard E White ◽  
Patricia I Dickson ◽  
...  

Purpose We compared fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity measurements between pediatric canines affected with mucopolysaccharidosis I and pediatric control canines. We hypothesized that lower fractional anisotropy and higher radial diffusivity values, consistent with dysmyelination, would be present in the mucopolysaccharidosis I cohort. Methods Six canine brains, three affected with mucopolysaccharidosis I and three unaffected, were euthanized at 7 weeks and imaged using a 7T small-animal magnetic resonance imaging system. Average fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity values were calculated for four white-matter regions based on 100 regions of interest per region per specimen. A 95% confidence interval was calculated for each mean value. Results No difference was seen in fractional anisotropy or radial diffusivity values between mucopolysaccharidosis affected and unaffected brains in any region. In particular, the 95% confidence intervals for mucopolysaccharidosis affected and unaffected canines frequently overlapped for both fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity measurements. In addition, in some brain regions a large range of fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity values were seen within the same cohort. Conclusion The fractional anisotropy and radial diffusivity values of white matter did not differ between pediatric mucopolysaccharidosis affected canines and pediatric control canines. Possible explanations include: (a) a lack of white matter tissue differences between mucopolysaccharidosis affected and unaffected brains at early disease stages; (b) diffusion tensor imaging does not detect any existing differences; (c) inflammatory processes such as astrogliosis produce changes that offset the decreased fractional anisotropy values and increased radial diffusivity values that are expected in dysmyelination; and (d) our sample size was insufficient to detect differences. Further studies correlating diffusion tensor imaging findings to histology are warranted.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
András Jakab ◽  
Ruth O`Gorman Tuura ◽  
Christian Kellenberger ◽  
Ianina Scheer

AbstractOur purpose was to evaluate the within-subject reproducibility of in utero diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics and the visibility of major white matter structures.Images for 30 fetuses (20-33. postmenstrual weeks, normal neurodevelopment: 6 cases, cerebral pathology: 24 cases) were acquired on 1.5T or 3.0T MRI. DTI with 15 diffusion-weighting directions was repeated three times for each case, TR/TE: 2200/63 ms, voxel size: 1*1 mm, slice thickness: 3-5 mm, b-factor: 700 s/mm2. Reproducibility was evaluated from structure detectability, variability of DTI measures using the coefficient of variation (CV), image correlation and structural similarity across repeated scans for six selected structures. The effect of age, scanner type, presence of pathology was determined using Wilcoxon rank sum test.White matter structures were detectable in the following percentage of fetuses in at least two of the three repeated scans: corpus callosum genu 76%, splenium 64%, internal capsule, posterior limb 60%, brainstem fibers 40% and temporooccipital association pathways 60%. The mean CV of DTI metrics ranged between 3% and 14.6% and we measured higher reproducibility in fetuses with normal brain development. Head motion was negatively correlated with reproducibility, this effect was partially ameliorated by motion-correction algorithm using image registration. Structures on 3.0 T had higher variability both with- and without motion correction.Fetal DTI is reproducible for projection and commissural bundles during mid-gestation, however, in 16-30% of the cases, data were corrupted by artifacts, resulting in impaired detection of white matter structures. To achieve robust results for the quantitative analysis of diffusivity and anisotropy values, fetal-specific image processing is recommended and repeated DTI is needed to ensure the detectability of fiber pathways.AbbreviationsADaxial diffusivity;CCAcorpus callosum agenesis;CVcoefficient of variation,DTIdiffusion tensor imaging;FAfractional anisotropy;GWgestational week;MDmean diffusivity;RDradial diffusivity;ROIregion of interest;SSIMstructural similarity index


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