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Bao Y, Yang L, Chen Y, Zhang B, Li H, Tang W, Geng D, Li Y. Radial diffusivity as an imaging biomarker for early diagnosis of non-demented amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Eur Radiol 2018; 28:4940-4948. [PMID: 29948064 DOI: 10.1007/s00330-018-5506-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2018] [Revised: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To explore the sensitivity of potential DTI-based biomarkers in detecting microstructural changes for whole-brain white matter in early stage amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), analyze the relationship between the DTI indices and disease status, and further clarify potential brain regions for disease monitoring and clinical assessment. METHODS Thirty-three non-demented ALS patients and 32 age- and gender-matched subjects participated in this study. DTI data were acquired via 3.0T MRI scanner. Maps of diffusion-related indices including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) were obtained. Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) were used to investigate whole-brain white matter changes of each index. Correlation analyses between both brain-wide and volume-of-interest (VOI)-wide white matter alterations and clinical factors including ALSFRS-R scores, disease duration, and progression rate were performed. RESULTS Compared to healthy subjects, ALS patients showed significantly increased RD, MD and reduced FA, mainly along the corticospinal tract (CST) and the body of corpus callosum (CC). Increases in RD were broader than decreases in FA, in CST of both hemispheres. Meanwhile, involvement of several extra-motor regions was also revealed by RD. Significant positive correlation between ALSFRS-R scores and FA, negative correlation between ALSFRS-R and RD were found in left CST. CONCLUSIONS RD may be the most sensitive biomarker for the detection of early demyelination of white matter. Both RD and FA may serve as objective biomarkers for disease severity assessment. CST may be the most affected brain region in non-demented ALS. KEY POINTS • Changes in RD were broader than those in FA in bilateral CST. • Involvement of extra-motor regions was uncovered by RD. • FA and RD in CST were related to ALSFRS-R scores.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifang Bao
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Middle Wulumuqi Road, Shanghai, 200040, China.,Institute of Functional and Molecular Medical Imaging, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Liqin Yang
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Middle Wulumuqi Road, Shanghai, 200040, China.,Institute of Functional and Molecular Medical Imaging, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Yan Chen
- Department of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Biyun Zhang
- Department of Radiotherapy, Affiliated Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China
| | - Haiqing Li
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Middle Wulumuqi Road, Shanghai, 200040, China.,Institute of Functional and Molecular Medical Imaging, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Weijun Tang
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Middle Wulumuqi Road, Shanghai, 200040, China.,Institute of Functional and Molecular Medical Imaging, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Daoying Geng
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Middle Wulumuqi Road, Shanghai, 200040, China. .,Institute of Functional and Molecular Medical Imaging, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Yuxin Li
- Department of Radiology, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, 12 Middle Wulumuqi Road, Shanghai, 200040, China. .,Institute of Functional and Molecular Medical Imaging, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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