Abdulaziz Alshehri1,2,3, Oun Al-Iedani1,2, Jameen Arm1,2, Neda Gholizadeh4, Thibo Billiet5, Rodney Lea2, Jeannette Lechner-Scott2,6,7, Saadallah Ramadan1,2. 1. School of Health Sciences, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, 5982University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia. 2. 454568Hunter Medical Research Institute, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia. 3. Department of Radiology, King Fahad University Hospital, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. 4. School of Mathematical and Physical Science, Faculty of Science, 5982University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia. 5. Research and Development Department, Icometrix, Leuven, Belgium. 6. Department of Neurology, 439651John Hunter Hospital, New Lambton Heights, NSW, Australia. 7. School of Medicine and Public Health, College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, 5982University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can detect microstructural changes of white matter in multiple sclerosis (MS) and might clarify mechanisms responsible for disability. Thus, we aimed to compare DTI metrics in relapsing-remitting MS patients (RRMS) with healthy controls (HCs), and explore the correlations between DTI metrics, total brain white matter (TBWM) and white matter lesion (WML) with clinical parameters compared to volumetric measures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 37 RRMS patients and 19 age/sex-matched HCs were included. All participants had clinical assessments, structural and diffusion scans on a 3T MRI. Volumetric and white matter DTI metrics; fractional anisotropy (FA), mean, radial and axial diffusivities (MD, RD and AD) were estimated and correlated with clinical parameters. The mean group differences were calculated using t-tests, and univariate correlations with Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: Compared to HCs, statistically significant increases in MD (+3.6%), RD (+4.8%), AD (+2.7%) and a decrease in FA (-4.3%) for TBWM in RRMS was observed (p < .01). MD and RD in TBWM and AD in WML correlated moderately with disability status. Volumetric segmentation indicated a decrease in the total brain volume, GM and WM(-5%) with a reciprocal increase in CSF(+26%) in RRMS(p < .01). Importantly, DTI parameters showed a medium correlation with cognitive domains in contrast to white matter-related volumetric measurements in RRMS(Pearson correlation, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows a correlation of DTI metrics with clinical symptoms of MS, in particular cognition. More generally, these findings indicated that DTI is a useful and unique technique for evaluating the clinical features of white matter disease and warrants further investigation into its clinical role.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can detect microstructural changes of white matter in multiple sclerosis (MS) and might clarify mechanisms responsible for disability. Thus, we aimed to compare DTI metrics in relapsing-remitting MS patients (RRMS) with healthy controls (HCs), and explore the correlations between DTI metrics, total brain white matter (TBWM) and white matter lesion (WML) with clinical parameters compared to volumetric measures. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 37 RRMS patients and 19 age/sex-matched HCs were included. All participants had clinical assessments, structural and diffusion scans on a 3T MRI. Volumetric and white matter DTI metrics; fractional anisotropy (FA), mean, radial and axial diffusivities (MD, RD and AD) were estimated and correlated with clinical parameters. The mean group differences were calculated using t-tests, and univariate correlations with Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: Compared to HCs, statistically significant increases in MD (+3.6%), RD (+4.8%), AD (+2.7%) and a decrease in FA (-4.3%) for TBWM in RRMS was observed (p < .01). MD and RD in TBWM and AD in WML correlated moderately with disability status. Volumetric segmentation indicated a decrease in the total brain volume, GM and WM(-5%) with a reciprocal increase in CSF(+26%) in RRMS(p < .01). Importantly, DTI parameters showed a medium correlation with cognitive domains in contrast to white matter-related volumetric measurements in RRMS(Pearson correlation, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study shows a correlation of DTI metrics with clinical symptoms of MS, in particular cognition. More generally, these findings indicated that DTI is a useful and unique technique for evaluating the clinical features of white matter disease and warrants further investigation into its clinical role.
Authors: Massimo Filippi; Maria A Rocca; Nicola De Stefano; Christian Enzinger; Elizabeth Fisher; Mark A Horsfield; Matilde Inglese; Daniel Pelletier; Giancarlo Comi Journal: Arch Neurol Date: 2011-12
Authors: A Hagiwara; K Kamagata; K Shimoji; K Yokoyama; C Andica; M Hori; S Fujita; T Maekawa; R Irie; T Akashi; A Wada; M Suzuki; O Abe; N Hattori; S Aoki Journal: AJNR Am J Neuroradiol Date: 2019-09-12 Impact factor: 3.825