Longitudinal assessment of grey matter contraction in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A tensor based morphometry study

Abstract

Our objective was to investigate grey matter (GM) contraction in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using tensor based morphometry (TBM). Using a 1.5 Tesla scanner, T1-weighted MRI scans were obtained at baseline and at follow-up (mean interval, 9 months) from 16 ALS and 10 controls. Standard TBM procedures in Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM2) were used for image processing and statistical analyses. The frontotemporal cortex and basal ganglia were considered areas of interest, based on pathological studies. Eight patients showed rapid clinical progression of ALS during the follow-up period. Compared to controls, all ALS patients showed progression of GM atrophy in left premotor cortex and right basal ganglia. Patients with rapidly progressing ALS showed GM atrophy changes in a larger motor cortical-subcortical area and in extramotor frontal regions compared to both controls and to non-rapidly progressing cases. Thus, TBM detected longitudinal atrophy changes in the motor network in ALS occurring over less than one year. The faster the clinical progression, the greater was the GM loss in motor and prefrontal areas. Further advances in tracking longitudinal changes in cortical and subcortical regions in ALS may provide an objective marker for monitoring disease progression, and the disease-modifying effect of potential treatments.

Quantitative brain MR imaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

“…Atrophy of the head of the left caudate was found in a subgroup of rapidly progressing ALS patients in another study [32]. These observations support the hypothesis that subcortical grey matter areas may be significantly involved in the pathogenesis of ALS.…”

Prospective Validation of 18F-FDG Brain PET Discriminant Analysis Methods in the Diagnosis of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

“…First, no 3-dimensional MRI was available, so no correction for partial-volume effects to correct for atrophy was applied (29)(30)(31)(32). However, because glucose uptake is a combined measure of implicit cellular function and macroscopic atrophy effects, the validity and diagnostic power remains unchanged.…”

Subcortical structures in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

“…To detect subtle regional volume changes of DGM, we performed a shape analysis of DGM (thalamus, putamen, caudate nucleus, nucleus accumbens, and hippocampus), previously reported to be altered in ALS (Agosta et al, 2009;Bede et al, 2013;Chang et al, 2005;Thivard et al, 2007). The shape of the above-mentioned DGM (except the hippocampus, the subfields of which were studied) was analyzed using the FSLs FIRST module version 5.0.0 (Patenaude et al, 2011).…”