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FA Values (fa + value)
Selected AbstractsDiffusion-tensor MR imaging for evaluation of the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy in patients with delayed neuropsychiatric syndrome caused by carbon monoxide inhalationEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 7 2007C.-P. Lo The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) in patients with delayed neuropsychiatric syndrome (DNS) caused by carbon monoxide (CO) inhalation using diffusion tensor magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and neuropsychological test. Conventional and diffusion tensor brain MR imaging exams were performed in six patients with DNS immediately before and 3 months after the HBOT to obtain fractional anisotropy (FA) values. Six age- and sex-matched normal control subjects also received MR exams for comparison. Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) was also performed in patients immediately before and 3 months after the HBOT. A significantly higher mean FA value was found in control subjects as compared with the patients both before and 3 months after the HBOT (P < 0.001). The mean FA value 3 months after the HBOT was also significantly higher than that before the HBOT in the patient group (P < 0.001). All of the patients regained full scores in the MMSE 3 months after the HBOT. Diffusion tensor MR imaging can be a quantitative method for the assessment of the white matter change and monitor the treatment response in patients of CO-induced DNS with a good clinical correlation. HBO may be an effective therapy for DNS. [source] Smoothing that does not blur: Effects of the anisotropic approach for evaluating diffusion tensor imaging data in the clinicJOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, Issue 3 2010Marta Moraschi MS Abstract Purpose: To compare the effects of anisotropic and Gaussian smoothing on the outcomes of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) voxel-based (VB) analyses in the clinic, in terms of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhancement and directional information and boundary structures preservation. Materials and Methods: DTI data of 30 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and 30 matched control subjects were obtained at 3T. Fractional anisotropy (FA) maps with variable degrees and quality (Gaussian and anisotropic) of smoothing were created and compared with an unsmoothed dataset. The two smoothing approaches were evaluated in terms of SNR improvements, capability to separate differential effects between patients and controls by a standard VB analysis, and level of artifacts introduced by the preprocessing. Results: Gaussian smoothing regionally biased the FA values and introduced a high variability of results in clinical analysis, greatly dependent on the kernel size. On the contrary, anisotropic smoothing proved itself capable of enhancing the SNR of images and maintaining boundary structures, with only moderate dependence of results on smoothing parameters. Conclusion: Our study suggests that anisotropic smoothing is more suitable in DTI studies; however, regardless of technique, a moderate level of smoothing seems to be preferable considering the artifacts introduced by this manipulation. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2010;31:690,697. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Diffusion Tensor Tractography-based Analysis of the Pyramidal Tract in Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral SclerosisJOURNAL OF NEUROIMAGING, Issue 3 2008Yoon-Ho Hong MD ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We attempted to measure DTI parameters of the brainstem pyramidal tract using two approaches, ie, simple ROI and tract-specific analyses. Results obtained for healthy subjects and ALS patients were compared. METHODS DTI was performed using a single shot SE-EPI with 25 noncollinear diffusion gradient directions (b= 1000 second/mm2) and with no diffusion gradient on a 3.0-T MR system in 10 ALS patients and in 8 age- and sex-matched normal controls. To delineate the brainstem pyramidal tract, tractography was performed using two ROIs, ie, a seed ROI at the cerebral peduncle (ROI-1) and a target ROI at the lower pons (ROI-2). ROI-1 was subsequently restricted to voxels that contained streamlines in the tract reconstruction, thus creating a sub-ROI. RESULTS Mean fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity values were highly reproducible by tract specific analysis, whereas simple ROI analysis yielded larger variabilities between operators. FA values were significantly lower in ALS patients than in normal controls in the tractography-derived sub-ROI (P= .01), but not in the seed or target ROIs. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest, compared with simple ROI analysis, that tract-specific analysis using DTI fiber-tracking is more reliable and sensitive for detecting upper motor neuron pathology in ALS. [source] Involvement of motor pathways in corticobasal syndrome detected by diffusion tensor tractography,MOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 2 2009Kai Boelmans MD Abstract Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is a progressive parkinsonian disease characterized by cortical and subcortical neuronal loss. Although motor disabilities are a core feature of CBS, the involvement of motor pathways in this condition has not been completely clarified. We used magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study corticospinal and transcallosal motor projections in CBS, and applied fiber tractography to analyze the axonal integrity of white matter projections. Ten patients with CBS were compared with 10 age-matched healthy controls. Fiber tracts were computed using a Monte-Carlo simulation approach. Tract-specific mean values of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were determined. CBS patients showed a reduction of corticospinal tract (CST) fibers on the first affected side with significantly increased ADC and reduced FA values. In the corpus callosum (CC), particularly in the posterior trunk, patients also had significantly reduced fiber projections, with a higher ADC and lower FA than controls. This pattern indicates changes of the white matter integrity in both CST and CC. Thus, magnetic resonance DTI can be used to assess motor pathway involvement in CBS patients. © 2008 Movement Disorder Society [source] Structural white matter abnormalities in patients with idiopathic dystoniaMOVEMENT DISORDERS, Issue 8 2007Leonardo Bonilha MD Abstract We investigated whether structural white matter abnormalities, in the form of disruption of axonal coherence and integrity as measured with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), constitute an underlying pathological mechanism of idiopathic dystonia (ID), independent of genotype status. We studied seven subjects with ID: all had cervical dystonia as their main symptom (one patient also had spasmodic dysphonia and two patients had concurrent generalized dystonia, both DYT1-negative). We compared DTI MR images of patients with 10 controls, evaluating differences in mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA). ID was associated with increased FA values in the thalamus and adjacent white matter, and in the white matter underlying the middle frontal gyrus. ID was also associated with increase in MD in adjacent white matter to the pallidum and putamen bilaterally, left caudate, and in subcortical hemispheric regions, including the postcentral gyrus. Abnormal FA and MD in patients with ID indicate that abnormal axonal coherence and integrity contribute to the pathophysiology of dystonia. These findings suggest that ID is not only a functional disorder, but also associated with structural brain changes. Impaired connectivity and disrupted flow of information may contribute to the impairment of motor planning and regulation in dystonia. © 2006 Movement Disorder Society [source] Compartmental relaxation and diffusion tensor imaging measurements in vivo in ,-carrageenan-induced edema in rat skeletal muscle,NMR IN BIOMEDICINE, Issue 6 2008Reuben H. Fan Abstract Integrated diffusion tensor T2 measurements were made on normal and edematous rat muscle, and the data were fitted with one- and two-compartment models, respectively. Edematous muscle exhibited a short-lived component (T2,=,28,±,6,ms), with diffusion characteristics similar to that of normal muscle, and a long-lived component (T2,=,96,±,27,ms), with greater mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and lower fractional anisotropy (FA). With this two-component description of diffusion and relaxation, values of ADC and FA estimated with a conventional pulsed-gradient spin-echo sequence will depend on the echo time, relative fraction of short-lived and long-lived water signals, and the intrinsic ADC and FA values within the tissue. On the basis of the relative differences in water diffusion properties between long-lived and short-lived water signals, as well as the similarities between the short-lived component and normal tissue, it is postulated that these two signal components largely reflect intracellular and extracellular water. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Environmental and ontogenetic constraints on developmental stability in the spatangoid sea urchin Echinocardium (Echinoidea)BIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 2 2006THOMAS SAUCEDE Spatangoid irregular sea urchins are detritivorous benthic organisms particularly prone to variations of environment, and their mode of growth and plate morphology make them an appropriate model to assess the effects of environmental variations. Two populations of Echinocardium flavescens were sampled in two sites of the Norwegian coast characterized by contrasted environmental conditions. Different morphological descriptors (plate areas, interlandmarks distances, overall size, and shape of the posterior ambulacra) were used to appraise interindividual variations, and fluctuating asymmetry. The comparisons were carried out using classical fluctuating asymmetry (FA) methods, as well as Procrustean approaches. The population suspected to be less influenced by anthropic activities exhibits lower levels of FA for the size parameters (plate surfaces, interlandmarks distances, and centroid size) than the population located in a polluted area. Conversely, it shows higher FA values for the shape parameters (landmarks configuration). Interindividual variations appear to be correlated to FA. Variations are orientated according to the main growth axis of the ambulacra, and their intensity is stronger in the large posterior plates, which are also the youngest. These results are discussed with respect to architectural constraints involved in the sea urchin growth. © 2006 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2006, 88, 165,177. [source] | ||||||||||