Kierońska-Siwak Sara, Filipiak Patryk, Jabłońska Magdalena, Sokal Paweł
Department of Neurosurgery, Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Department of Neurosurgery and Neurology, Jan Biziel University Hospital No 2, Collegium Medicum, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Front Neurosci. 2025 Apr 28;19:1543032. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2025.1543032. eCollection 2025.
This study aims to present various tractography methods for delineating the Frontal Aslant Tract (FAT) and to quantify morphological features of FAT based on diffusion tensor imaging.
The study includes 68 patients, for which FAT was reconstructed using the Region Of Interest (ROI)-based approach. The ROIs were defined in either SFG - Superior Frontal Gyrus (ROI 1), or SMA-Supplementary Motor Area (ROI 2). The respective endpoints were located in the Inferior Frontal Gyrus (IFG)-either in pars opercularis or in pars triangularis. For each patient, FAT was delineated using four combinations of the above ROI-endpoint pairs.
The highest streamline counts and fiber volumes of FAT were obtained using ROI 1 (i.e., SFG) with the endpoint in IFG pars opercularis. All subjects expressed left dominance of the pathway quantified by the higher streamline counts and fiber volumes regardless of gender. Additionally, higher Mean Diffusivity (MD) and lower Fractional Anisotropy (FA) values were observed in patients above 55 years of age than in younger patients.
FAT is a neural pathway that can be tracked based on various anatomical landmarks. Clinically, it appears that delineating FAT between SFG and the pars opercularis region of IFG is optimal, as it is directly associated with the highest number of fibers and the greatest volume of the tract contained between these points.
本研究旨在介绍用于描绘额斜束（FAT）的各种纤维束成像方法，并基于扩散张量成像对FAT的形态特征进行量化。
该研究纳入68例患者，使用基于感兴趣区域（ROI）的方法重建FAT。ROI在额上回（SFG）（ROI 1）或辅助运动区（SMA）（ROI 2）中定义。各自的终点位于额下回（IFG）——眶部或三角部。对于每位患者，使用上述ROI - 终点对的四种组合描绘FAT。
使用ROI 1（即SFG）且终点在IFG眶部时，FAT获得的流线计数和纤维体积最高。无论性别如何，所有受试者通过较高的流线计数和纤维体积量化的该通路均表现为左侧优势。此外，55岁以上患者的平均扩散率（MD）较高，各向异性分数（FA）值较低，而年轻患者则相反。
FAT是一条可基于各种解剖标志追踪的神经通路。在临床上，似乎在SFG和IFG眶部区域之间描绘FAT是最佳的，因为它直接与这些点之间包含的最多纤维数量和最大束体积相关。
