Terajima Kenshi, Matsuzawa Hitoshi, Shimohata Takayoshi, Akazawa Kouhei, Nishizawa Masatoyo, Nakada Tsutomu
Center for Integrated Human Brain Science, Brain Research Institute, University of Niigata, Niigata, Japan.
J Neuroimaging. 2009 Jul;19(3):220-6. doi: 10.1111/j.1552-6569.2008.00273.x. Epub 2008 Oct 24.
Three-dimensional anisotropy contrast (3DAC) based on a periodically rotated overlapping parallel lines with enhanced reconstruction (PROPELLER) sequence on a 3.0 T system is a new magnetic resonance imaging technique capable of providing images with significantly high anatomical resolution. The purpose of this study was to confirm whether this technique can characterize the degenerative processes in the brainstem of patients with spinocerebellar degeneration (SCD).
3DAC images of 13 patients with multiple system atrophy with predominant cerebellar symptoms (MSA-C) and seven International Cooperative Ataxia Rating Scale (ICARS) score-matched patients with Machado-Joseph disease (MJD) were created using a diffusion-weighted PROPELLER sequence on a 3.0T system. The section of the middle pons was chosen for morphometric and diffusivity analyses.
The above analyses showed that atrophy and increased diffusivity of the ventral portion of the pons indicated MSA-C, whereas atrophy and increased diffusivity of the pontine tegmentum indicated MJD. Furthermore, ICARS scores significantly correlated with both the severities of the pontine atrophy and the mean diffusivity values of the ventral pontocerebellar tracts.
This study demonstrated that 3DAC PROPELLER on a 3.0T system enables in vivo "tract by tract" quantitative analysis of pontine degeneration in SCD.
基于3.0T系统上具有增强重建功能的周期性旋转重叠平行线（PROPELLER）序列的三维各向异性对比（3DAC）是一种新的磁共振成像技术，能够提供具有显著高解剖分辨率的图像。本研究的目的是确认该技术是否能够对脊髓小脑变性（SCD）患者脑干中的退变过程进行特征性描述。
使用3.0T系统上的扩散加权PROPELLER序列，为13例以小脑症状为主的多系统萎缩（MSA-C）患者和7例国际合作共济失调评定量表（ICARS）评分匹配的马查多-约瑟夫病（MJD）患者创建3DAC图像。选择脑桥中部进行形态计量学和扩散率分析。
上述分析表明，脑桥腹侧萎缩及扩散率增加提示MSA-C，而脑桥被盖萎缩及扩散率增加提示MJD。此外，ICARS评分与脑桥萎缩严重程度及腹侧脑桥小脑束平均扩散率值均显著相关。
本研究表明，3.0T系统上的3DAC PROPELLER能够对SCD患者脑桥退变进行体内“逐束”定量分析。
