Pinter Daniela, Beckmann Christian, Koini Marisa, Pirker Eva, Filippini Nicola, Pichler Alexander, Fuchs Siegrid, Fazekas Franz, Enzinger Christian
Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
Donders Institute, Cognitive Neuroscience Department and Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2016 Mar 23;11(3):e0152158. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0152158. eCollection 2016.
Given increasing efforts to use resting-state fMRI (rfMRI) as a biomarker of disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) we here explored the reproducibility of longitudinal rfMRI over three months in patients with clinically and radiologically stable MS. To pursue this aim, two approaches were applied in nine rfMRI networks: First, the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC 3,1) was assessed for the mean functional connectivity maps across the entire network and a region of interest (ROI). Second, the ratio of overlap between Z-thresholded connectivity maps for each network was assessed. We quantified between-session functional reproducibility of rfMRI for 20 patients with stable MS and 14 healthy controls (HC). Nine rfMRI networks (RSNs) were examined at baseline and after 3 months of follow-up: three visual RSNs, the default-mode network, sensorimotor-, auditory-, executive control, and the left and right fronto-parietal RSN. ROI analyses were constrained to thresholded overlap masks for each individual (Z>0) at baseline and follow-up.In both stable MS and HC mean functional connectivity across the entire network did not reach acceptable ICCs for several networks (ICC<0.40) but we found a high reproducibility of ROI ICCs and of the ratio of overlap. ROI ICCs of all nine networks were between 0.98 and 0.99 for HC and ranged from 0.88 to 0.99 in patients with MS, respectively. The ratio of overlap for all networks was similar for both groups, ranging from 0.60 to 0.75.Our findings attest to a high reproducibility of rfMRI networks not only in HC but also in patients with stable MS when applying ROI analysis. This supports the utility of rfMRI to monitor functional changes related to disease progression or therapeutic interventions in MS.
鉴于人们越来越努力地将静息态功能磁共振成像（rfMRI）用作多发性硬化症（MS）疾病进展的生物标志物，我们在此探讨了临床和放射学稳定的MS患者在三个月内纵向rfMRI的可重复性。为实现这一目标，我们在九个rfMRI网络中采用了两种方法：第一，评估整个网络和感兴趣区域（ROI）的平均功能连接图的组内相关系数（ICC 3,1）。第二，评估每个网络的Z阈值连接图之间的重叠率。我们对20例稳定MS患者和14名健康对照（HC）的rfMRI会话间功能可重复性进行了量化。在基线和随访3个月后检查了九个rfMRI网络（RSN）：三个视觉RSN、默认模式网络、感觉运动、听觉、执行控制以及左右额顶叶RSN。ROI分析仅限于基线和随访时每个个体的阈值重叠掩码（Z>0）。在稳定MS患者和HC中，几个网络的整个网络平均功能连接性均未达到可接受的ICC（ICC<0.40），但我们发现ROI ICC和重叠率具有较高的可重复性。HC的所有九个网络的ROI ICC分别在0.98至0.99之间，MS患者的范围为0.88至0.99。两组所有网络的重叠率相似，范围为0.60至0.75。我们的研究结果证明，当应用ROI分析时，rfMRI网络不仅在HC中而且在稳定MS患者中都具有较高的可重复性。这支持了rfMRI在监测与MS疾病进展或治疗干预相关功能变化方面的实用性。
