Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
Hum Brain Mapp. 2019 Mar;40(4):1174-1183. doi: 10.1002/hbm.24437. Epub 2018 Oct 27.
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether textures computed from T1-weighted (T1W) images of the corticospinal tract (CST) in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) are associated with degenerative changes evaluated by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Nineteen patients with ALS and 14 controls were prospectively recruited and underwent T1W and diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Three-dimensional texture maps were computed from T1W images and correlated with the DTI metrics within the CST. Significantly correlated textures were selected and compared within the CST for group differences between patients and controls using voxel-wise analysis. Textures were correlated with the patients' clinical upper motor neuron (UMN) signs and their diagnostic accuracy was evaluated. Voxel-wise analysis of textures and their diagnostic performance were then assessed in an independent cohort with 26 patients and 13 controls. Results showed that textures autocorrelation, energy, and inverse difference normalized significantly correlated with DTI metrics (p < .05) and these textures were selected for further analyses. The textures demonstrated significant voxel-wise differences between patients and controls in the centrum semiovale and the posterior limb of the internal capsule bilaterally (p < .05). Autocorrelation and energy significantly correlated with UMN burden in patients (p < .05) and classified patients and controls with 97% accuracy (100% sensitivity, 92.9% specificity). In the independent cohort, the selected textures demonstrated similar regional differences between patients and controls and classified participants with 94.9% accuracy. These results provide evidence that T1-based textures are associated with degenerative changes in the CST.
本研究旨在探讨肌萎缩侧索硬化症（ALS）患者皮质脊髓束（CST）的 T1 加权（T1W）图像计算出的纹理是否与扩散张量成像（DTI）评估的退行性变化相关。19 例 ALS 患者和 14 名对照者前瞻性入组并接受 T1W 和弥散加权磁共振成像检查。从 T1W 图像计算三维纹理图，并与 CST 内的 DTI 指标相关联。使用体素分析，在患者和对照组之间对 CST 内具有显著相关性的纹理进行组间差异比较。对纹理进行分析，并评估其与患者的临床上运动神经元（UMN）征象的相关性及其诊断准确性。然后，在一个由 26 例患者和 13 例对照者组成的独立队列中，对纹理及其诊断性能进行了体素分析。结果显示，纹理的自相关、能量和倒数差异归一化与 DTI 指标显著相关（p <.05），并选择这些纹理进行进一步分析。在双侧半卵圆中心和内囊后肢，纹理在患者和对照组之间存在显著的体素差异（p <.05）。自相关和能量与患者 UMN 负担显著相关（p <.05），并以 97%的准确率（100%的灵敏度，92.9%的特异性）对患者和对照组进行分类。在独立队列中，选择的纹理在患者和对照组之间显示出相似的区域差异，并以 94.9%的准确率对参与者进行分类。这些结果提供了证据表明，基于 T1 的纹理与 CST 的退行性变化相关。
