Yan Su, Zhang Guiling, Zhou Yiran, Tian Tian, Qin Yuanyuan, Wu Di, Lu Jun, Zhang Shun, Liu Weiyin Vivian, Zhu Wenzhen
Department of Radiology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1095 Jiefang Avenue, Wuhan, 430030, China.
MR Research, GE Healthcare, Beijing, China.
Acad Radiol. 2022 Mar;29 Suppl 3:S157-S165. doi: 10.1016/j.acra.2021.08.011. Epub 2021 Sep 21.
The direct damage caused by ischemic stroke is relatively localized, but structural reorganization of cortical regions could occur across the brain. Changes of large-scale, cortical structural brain networks after basal ganglia stroke are less well reported. We, therefore, aim to explore the abnormalities of cortical morphology and structural network topology in patients with unilateral basal ganglia stroke during the subacute period.
Thirty patients with first-ever basal ganglia stroke and thirty age- and sex-matched healthy controls were recruited for our analysis. Patients underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging examinations and clinical assessment from seven days to three months post-stroke. Alterations in cortical morphology and topological properties of the cortical structural network were measured respectively using the surface-based morphology and graph-theoretical methods.
We observed focal cortical atrophy, specifically in areas of frontal and temporal cortices. Moreover, the cortical thickness in the contralesional transverse temporal gyrus and superior temporal gyrus was positively correlated with cognitive function scores. Network analysis revealed that patients with basal ganglia stroke showed increased clustering coefficient, increased mean local efficiency as well as a reorganization of degree-based hubs. In addition, these patients also showed reduced robustness under a random attack compared to healthy controls.
These findings indicated a unique pattern of cortical reorganization and the abnormal topological organization of cortical thickness-based structural covariance networks in patients with basal ganglia stroke, which is beneficial to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of functional disorders at the cortical structural network level and find potential targets for induced neuromodulation.
缺血性中风造成的直接损伤相对局限，但大脑皮层区域可能会发生结构重组。基底节区中风后大规模皮层结构脑网络的变化报道较少。因此，我们旨在探讨单侧基底节区中风患者亚急性期皮层形态和结构网络拓扑的异常情况。
招募30例首次发生基底节区中风的患者和30例年龄、性别匹配的健康对照进行分析。患者在中风后7天至3个月接受结构磁共振成像检查和临床评估。分别使用基于表面的形态学方法和图论方法测量皮层形态和皮层结构网络拓扑性质的改变。
我们观察到局灶性皮层萎缩，特别是在额叶和颞叶皮层区域。此外，对侧颞横回和颞上回的皮层厚度与认知功能评分呈正相关。网络分析显示，基底节区中风患者的聚类系数增加、平均局部效率增加以及基于度的枢纽发生重组。此外，与健康对照相比，这些患者在随机攻击下的鲁棒性也降低。
这些发现表明基底节区中风患者存在独特的皮层重组模式以及基于皮层厚度的结构协方差网络的异常拓扑组织，这有助于在皮层结构网络水平上理解功能障碍的病理生理机制，并找到诱导神经调节的潜在靶点。
