Department of Radiology, Wuxi People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, No. 299 Qingyang Road, Nanchang District, Wuxi, 214023, China.
Department of Child Care, Wuxi Children's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, 214023, China.
Brain Imaging Behav. 2018 Dec;12(6):1814-1821. doi: 10.1007/s11682-018-9853-9.
To examine the amygdala volume in 2-5-year-old preschool children with autism and explore the relationship between amygdala volumes based on MRI findings and clinical features. A total of 39 cases with clinically diagnosed autism were collected. The oblique coronal T1 weighted image (T1WI) sequence was used to measure the volume of amygdala and the MRI signals were measured and analyzed. The data were compared to that of 24 age-matched healthy children and correlated to the clinical manifestations. The autism and the control groups were subject to brain scanning in 1 week after Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) review. The 39 cases, diagnosed with autism, were associated with social and behavioral deficits through clinical observation, physical and neurological examination, and assessments according to DSM IV, and the range of ABC scores in the autism group was 47-124, with an average score of 84.7 ± 24.1. Abnormal MRI signals were found in 19/78 (24.4%) amygdala in the autism group, the amygdala lesions showed punctuate or flaky low signal, slightly low signal, low to iso-signal, slightly high signal, or iso to high-signal intensity on T1 weighted three-dimendional fast low angle shot(T1FL3D) images. The right amygdala volume average was 1.088 ± 0.38 cm, while that of the left amygdala was 1.04 ± 0.41 cm, without any statistically significant difference (t = 0.533, p = 0.596) in the autism group. Among the 24 cases in the control group, the right amygdala volume average was 0.754 ± 0.194 cm, while that of the left amygdala was 0.666 ± 0.252 cm; the autism group had a significantly larger right and left amygdala volumes as compared to the age-matched typically developing group with a significant positive correlation between age and right amygdala volume (r = 0.406, p = 0.01). The preschool children with autism had significantly larger bilateral amygdala volumes as compared to age-matched typically developing children, the amygdala lesions may show abnormal signal. A relationship between age and right amygdala volume in the preschool children with autism was established.
研究 2-5 岁自闭症儿童的杏仁核体积，探讨基于 MRI 发现的杏仁核体积与临床特征之间的关系。
收集了 39 例临床诊断为自闭症的病例。采用斜冠状 T1 加权图像（T1WI）序列测量杏仁核体积，测量并分析 MRI 信号。将数据与 24 名年龄匹配的健康儿童进行比较，并与临床表现相关联。自闭症组和对照组在经过精神障碍诊断与统计手册第四版（DSM-IV）审查后 1 周内进行脑扫描。通过临床观察、体格检查和神经系统检查以及根据 DSM-IV 进行评估，39 例自闭症病例存在社交和行为缺陷，自闭症组 ABC 评分范围为 47-124，平均评分为 84.7±24.1。自闭症组 78 个杏仁核中有 19 个（24.4%）出现异常 MRI 信号，杏仁核病变在 T1FL3D 图像上表现为点状或片状低信号、稍低信号、低等信号、稍高信号或等-高信号强度。右杏仁核平均体积为 1.088±0.38cm，左杏仁核平均体积为 1.04±0.41cm，自闭症组左右杏仁核体积无统计学差异（t=0.533，p=0.596）。对照组 24 例中，右杏仁核平均体积为 0.754±0.194cm，左杏仁核平均体积为 0.666±0.252cm；与年龄匹配的正常发育组相比，自闭症组的右杏仁核和左杏仁核体积明显增大，且右杏仁核体积与年龄呈显著正相关（r=0.406，p=0.01）。与年龄匹配的正常发育儿童相比，自闭症学龄前儿童双侧杏仁核体积明显增大，杏仁核病变可能出现异常信号。自闭症学龄前儿童的右杏仁核体积与年龄呈正相关。
