Diffusion tensor imaging of the brain: review of clinical applications

Sundgren, Pia C.; Dong, Qian; Gomez-Hassan, Diana; Mukherji, Suresh K.; Maly, Pavel; Welsh, Robert C.

doi:10.1007/s00234-003-1114-x

Cited by 377 publications

(254 citation statements)

References 79 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is an MRI technique which is able to assess the degree and direction of water diffusion, and individual white matter tracts in the brain can be isolated by using fiber tracking software. [7,8] The degree of restriction to water diffusion is quantified as the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), and the preponderant directionality is characterized by the fractional anisotropy (FA). FA is a scalar index from 0 to 1 with 0 being isotropic diffusion and 1 representing diffusion in one direction only.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The corticospinal tract in Sturge–Weber syndrome: A diffusion tensor tractography study

Sivaswamy¹,

Rajamani²,

Juhász³

et al. 2008

Brain and Development

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OBJECTIVE-To utilize diffusion tensor tractography and evaluate the integrity of the corticospinal tract in children with unilateral Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS).METHODS-Sixteen children (age: 1.5-12.3 years) with SWS involving one hemisphere and varying degrees of motor deficit, underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as part of a prospective clinical research study. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was obtained and fiber tracking of the corticospinal tract was performed yielding average FA and ADC values along the pathway. These values were compared between the two hemispheres (affected vs. unaffected) and also correlated with the degree of motor deficits, after correction for age.RESULTS-Cortico-spinal tract FA values on the side of the affected hemisphere were lower (p=0.008) and ADC values were higher (p=0.011) compared to the normal side. Furthermore, FA and ADC values on the side of the angioma did not show the normal age-related variations, which the contralateral corticospinal pathway values did demonstrate. Although none of the patients had severe hemipares, those with moderate motor deficit had increased ADC values, as compared to those with mild (p= 0.009) or no motor deficit (p= 0.045).CONCLUSION-MRI with DTI shows abnormalities of the corticospinal tract in children with SWS even before severe motor impairment develops. Thus, DTI can be a clinically useful method to evaluate the integrity of the corticospinal tract in young children who are at risk for progressive motor dysfunction.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The corticospinal tract in Sturge–Weber syndrome: A diffusion tensor tractography study

Sivaswamy¹,

Rajamani²,

Juhász³

et al. 2008

Brain and Development

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“…Reduced FA values have been reported in patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases (Sundgren et al, 2004) or spinal chord injury (Wrigley et al, 2008).…”

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confidence: 99%

White matter plasticity in the corticospinal tract of musicians: A diffusion tensor imaging study

et al. 2009

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With the advent of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), the study of plastic changes in white matter architecture due to long-term practice has attracted increasing interest. Professional musicians provide an ideal model for investigating white matter plasticity because of their early onset of extensive auditory and sensorimotor training. We performed fiber tractography and subsequent voxelwise analysis, region of interest (ROI) analysis, and detailed slicewise analysis of diffusion parameters in the corticospinal tract (CST) on 26 professional musicians and a control group of 13 participants. All analyses resulted in significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) values in both the left and the right CST in the musician group. Furthermore, a right-greater-than-left asymmetry of FA was observed regardless of group. In the musician group, diffusivity was negatively correlated with the onset of musical training in childhood. A subsequent median split into an early and a late onset musician group (median=7 years) revealed increased diffusivity in the CST of the early onset group as compared to both the late onset group and the controls. In conclusion, these DTI-based findings might indicate plastic changes in white matter architecture of the CST in professional musicians. Our results imply that training-induced changes in diffusion characteristics of the axonal membrane may lead to increased radial diffusivity as reflected in decreased FA values. AbstractWith the advent of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), the study of plastic changes in white matter architecture due to long-term practice has attracted increasing interest. Professional musicians provide an ideal model for investigating white matter plasticity because of their early onset of extensive auditory and sensorimotor training. We performed fiber tractography and subsequent voxelwise analysis, region of interest (ROI) analysis, and detailed slicewise analysis of diffusion parameters in the CST on 26 professional musicians and a control group of 13 participants. All analyses resulted in significantly lower FA values in both the left and the right CST in the musician group. Furthermore, a right-greater-than-left asymmetry of FA was observed regardless of group.In the musician group, diffusivity was negatively correlated with the onset of musical training in childhood. A subsequent median split into an early and a late onset musician group (median = 7 years) revealed increased diffusivity in the CST of the early onset group as compared with both the late onset group and the controls. In conclusion, these DTI-based findings might indicate plastic changes in white matter architecture of the CST in professional musicians. Our results imply that training-induced changes in diffusion characteristics of the axonal membrane may lead to increased radial diffusivity as reflected in decreased FA values.2

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“…First, Mandonnet et al (23), in a study of patients suffering from low-grade gliomas, reported that the diameter of the detectable part of the tumor expands about 4 mm per year. Second, one can show that the detectable diameter d obeys the asymptotic law (15) d͑t͒ ϳ 4 ͱD t, [12] for large time t, where D is the mean cell diffusion and the net proliferation constant for an exponential proliferation law. Thus, we take D ϭ 7.5 ϫ 10 Ϫ3 mm 2 day Ϫ1 , which is the value corresponding to a detectable diameter growing of 4 mm per year and a proliferation rate of ϭ 0.0012 day Ϫ1 .…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It allows the virtual in vivo dissection of white matter tracts (8 -11) in healthy volunteers. Usefulness of DTI in the management of brain tumors is also under investigation (12). Determination of white matter tracts deformed by tumors appears to be a promising application for use in surgical planning (13).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of anisotropic growth of low‐grade gliomas using diffusion tensor imaging

Jbabdi

Mandonnet

Duffau

et al. 2005

Magnetic Resonance in Med

256

272

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A recent computational model of brain tumor growth, developed to better describe how gliomas invade through the adjacent brain parenchyma, is based on two major elements: cell proliferation and isotropic cell diffusion. On the basis of this model, glioma growth has been simulated in a virtual brain, provided by a 3D segmented MRI atlas. However, it is commonly accepted that glial cells preferentially migrate along the direction of fiber tracts. Therefore, in this paper, the model has been improved by including anisotropic extension of gliomas. The method is based on a cell diffusion tensor derived from water diffusion tensor (as given by MRI diffusion tensor imaging). Results of simulations have been compared with two clinical examples demonstrating typical growth patterns of lowgrade gliomas centered around the insula. The shape and the kinetic evolution are better simulated with anisotropic rather than isotropic diffusion. The best fit is obtained when the anisotropy of the cell diffusion tensor is increased to greater anisotropy than the observed water diffusion tensor. The shape of the tumor is also influenced by the initial location of the tumor. Anisotropic brain tumor growth simulations provide a means to determine the initial location of a low-grade glioma as well as its cell diffusion tensor, both of which might reflect the biological characteristics of invasion. Key words: computational modeling; glioma; anisotropic growth; diffusion tensor; cell migration Low-grade (WHO grade II) gliomas are initially slowly evolving tumors, but can become rapidly fatal after anaplastic transformation. Because of their infiltrative characteristics, surgery alone fails to cure these tumors, even in their premalignant stage. Indeed, these tumors may not form a solid mass but may invade diffusely throughout the brain parenchyma as "gliomatosis cerebri."Recently, a biomathematical model (1) has been proposed to quantitatively describe the growth rates of gliomas visualized radiologically. This model takes into account the two major biological phenomena underlying the growth of gliomas at the cellular scale: proliferation and diffusion. The simplest choice for the proliferation term is a constant growth rate , leading to an exponentially growing total number of glioma cells. For the invasive properties of gliomas, cell migration is assumed to be a random walk, corresponding to a passive (Fickian) diffusion characterized by a single coefficient D. Simulations of this proliferation-diffusion equation are performed on a 3D T 1 MR structural image of the brain, with segmentation of CSF (which corresponds to the boundaries of the parenchyma), white matter, and gray matter images.In previous publications (2), the diffusion of cells in white matter is assumed to be 5 (to 100) times higher than in gray matter, consistent with observations that glioma cells migrate more quickly in white matter than in gray. Within white (or gray) matter, cell diffusion was considered an isotropic phenomenon. However, it is commonly accepted that gl...

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Diffusion tensor imaging of the brain: review of clinical applications

Cited by 377 publications

References 79 publications

The corticospinal tract in Sturge–Weber syndrome: A diffusion tensor tractography study

The corticospinal tract in Sturge–Weber syndrome: A diffusion tensor tractography study

White matter plasticity in the corticospinal tract of musicians: A diffusion tensor imaging study

Simulation of anisotropic growth of low‐grade gliomas using diffusion tensor imaging

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