Characterization of Diffusion Tensor Parameters in Normal-Appearing White Matter
Presentations
MO-IePD-TRACK 2-2 (Monday, 7/26/2021) 3:00 PM - 3:30 PM [Eastern Time (GMT-4)]
Purpose: To quantify the fractional anisotropy (FA), the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and the radial diffusivity (RD) in normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) surrounding focal brain lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to establish a change gradient of these 3 factors over the distance to the focal lesion. Then, by comparing the gradient between patients with several stages of MS, evaluate the possibility of predicting new focal lesions.
Methods: A diffusion tensor (DT) post processing was completed to magnetic resonance images (MRI) of MS patients. The FA, ADC and RD values in focal lesions were obtained using the software toolkit. Then, a color map in the images was constructed to better visualize the lesion limits, also 2 regions of interest (ROI) of different sizes were defined surrounding the focal lesions. Once these 3 variables were measured in the lesions and in every ROI, an analysis of change gradient was determined along the distance to the focal lesion. This was done in 7 different patients.
Results: In an early stage of the disease (relapsing-remitting MS), the patients showed a significant decrease in ADC and RD values as the ROI moved away from the lesion, being bigger in the lesions than in the ROIs. In contrast, the FA had its greatest increase in this early disease stage as the ROI was further away from the lesion. New lesions were shown in cases where there was a greater change gradient.
Conclusion: This work helps to provide an accurate prognosis of the disease and the possibility to analyze the use of early treatment to prevent the development of clinically definite MS.
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