HARDI-ZOOMit protocol improves specificity to microstructural changes in presymptomatic myelopathy
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2020 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Scientific Reports |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-70297-3 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70297-3 |
| Keywords | HARDI-ZOOMit protocol; presymptomatic myelopathy |
| Description | Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) proved promising in patients with non-myelopathic degenerative cervical cord compression (NMDCCC), i.e., without clinically manifested myelopathy. Aim of the study is to present a fast multi-shell HARDI-ZOOMit dMRI protocol and validate its usability to detect microstructural myelopathy in NMDCCC patients. In 7 young healthy volunteers, 13 age-comparable healthy controls, 18 patients with mild NMDCCC and 15 patients with severe NMDCCC, the protocol provided higher signal-to-noise ratio, enhanced visualization of white/gray matter structures in microstructural maps, improved dMRI metric reproducibility, preserved sensitivity (SE = 87.88%) and increased specificity (SP = 92.31%) of control-patient group differences when compared to DTI-RESOLVE protocol (SE = 87.88%, SP = 76.92%). Of the 56 tested microstructural parameters, HARDI-ZOOMit yielded significant patient-control differences in 19 parameters, whereas in DTI-RESOLVE data, differences were observed in 10 parameters, with mostly lower robustness. Novel marker the white-gray matter diffusivity gradient demonstrated the highest separation. HARDI-ZOOMit protocol detected larger number of crossing fibers (5–15% of voxels) with physiologically plausible orientations than DTI-RESOLVE protocol (0–8% of voxels). Crossings were detected in areas of dorsal horns and anterior white commissure. HARDI-ZOOMit protocol proved to be a sensitive and practical tool for clinical quantitative spinal cord imaging. |
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