BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In multiple sclerosis (MS), the presence of lesions and normal-appearing white matter damage may affect the reliability of diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based tractography. We compared the performance of an individual-based method for corpus callosum (CC) fiber tracking in MS with those of two atlas-based methods. METHODS: Brain DT MRI scans were acquired from 35 patients with MS and 18 age-matched healthy volunteers (HV). DT-derived metrics from the CC-the mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA)-were calculated using an individual-based and two atlas-based methods with different types of subject registration (linear and nonlinear) to a CC atlas. Customized termination criteria were applied to stop the tracking algorithm when using the individual-based method. RESULTS: All the methods were able to distinguish between MS patients and HV. Using the individual-based method, stronger relationships were found between CC DT-derived metrics and the subjects' clinical condition. CONCLUSION: CC DT tractography using an individual-based method is more sensitive than the atlas-based ones to tract-specific alterations related to MS disability. An atlas-based method with nonlinear registration can be a valid alternative when an automated postprocessing is warranted, such as in the case of high volumes of data.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In multiple sclerosis (MS), the presence of lesions and normal-appearing white matter damage may affect the reliability of diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based tractography. We compared the performance of an individual-based method for corpus callosum (CC) fiber tracking in MS with those of two atlas-based methods. METHODS: Brain DT MRI scans were acquired from 35 patients with MS and 18 age-matched healthy volunteers (HV). DT-derived metrics from the CC-the mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA)-were calculated using an individual-based and two atlas-based methods with different types of subject registration (linear and nonlinear) to a CC atlas. Customized termination criteria were applied to stop the tracking algorithm when using the individual-based method. RESULTS: All the methods were able to distinguish between MSpatients and HV. Using the individual-based method, stronger relationships were found between CC DT-derived metrics and the subjects' clinical condition. CONCLUSION: CC DT tractography using an individual-based method is more sensitive than the atlas-based ones to tract-specific alterations related to MS disability. An atlas-based method with nonlinear registration can be a valid alternative when an automated postprocessing is warranted, such as in the case of high volumes of data.
Authors: Ilona Lipp; Greg D Parker; Emma C Tallantyre; Alex Goodall; Steluta Grama; Eleonora Patitucci; Phoebe Heveron; Valentina Tomassini; Derek K Jones Journal: Neuroimage Date: 2019-12-24 Impact factor: 7.400
Authors: Paola Tortorella; Maria Marcella Laganà; Marina Saresella; Eleonora Tavazzi; Maria Giulia Preti; Cristian Ricci; Francesca Baglio; Ivana Marventano; Federica Piancone; Giuseppe Baselli; Pietro Cecconi; Domenico Caputo; Mario Clerici; Marco Rovaris Journal: Biomed Res Int Date: 2014-04-09 Impact factor: 3.411