Schneider Torben, Brownlee W, Zhang H, Ciccarelli Olga, Miller David H, Wheeler-Kingshott Claudia Gandini
Funct Neurol. 2017 Apr/Jun;32(2):97-101. doi: 10.11138/fneur/2017.32.2.097.
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is sensitive to white matter (WM) damage in multiple sclerosis (MS), not only in focal lesions but also in the normal-appearing WM (NAWM). However, DTI indices can also be affected by natural spatial variation in WM, as seen in crossing and dispersing white matter fibers. Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) is an advanced diffusion-weighted imaging technique that provides distinct indices of fiber density and dispersion. We performed NODDI of lesion tissue and NAWM in five MS patients and five controls, comparing the technique with traditional DTI. Both DTI and NODDI identified tissue damage in NAWM and in lesions. NODDI was able to detect additional changes and it provided better contrast in MS-NAWM microstructure, because it distinguished orientation dispersion and fiber density better than DTI. We showed that NODDI is viable in MS patients and that it offers, compared with DTI parameters, improved sensitivity and possibly greater specificity to microstructure features such as neurite orientation.
扩散张量成像（DTI）对多发性硬化症（MS）中的白质（WM）损伤敏感，不仅在局灶性病变中如此，在外观正常的白质（NAWM）中也是如此。然而，DTI指数也可能受到白质自然空间变化的影响，如在交叉和分散的白质纤维中所见。神经突方向离散度和密度成像（NODDI）是一种先进的扩散加权成像技术，可提供纤维密度和离散度的独特指数。我们对5例MS患者和5例对照者的病变组织和NAWM进行了NODDI检查，并将该技术与传统DTI进行了比较。DTI和NODDI均识别出了NAWM和病变中的组织损伤。NODDI能够检测到额外的变化，并且在MS-NAWM微观结构中提供了更好的对比度，因为它比DTI更能区分方向离散度和纤维密度。我们表明，NODDI在MS患者中是可行的，并且与DTI参数相比，它对神经突方向等微观结构特征具有更高的敏感性以及可能更高的特异性。
