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Distribution of microstructural damage in the brains of professional boxers: A diffusion MRI study
Author(s) -
Chappell Michael H.,
Uluǧ Aziz M.,
Zhang Lijuan,
Heitger Marcus H.,
Jordan Barry D.,
Zimmerman Robert D.,
Watts Richard
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.20656
Subject(s) - fractional anisotropy , diffusion mri , white matter , effective diffusion coefficient , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear medicine , radiology
Purpose To investigate and localize cerebral abnormalities in professional boxers with no history of moderate or severe head trauma. Materials and Methods Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to determine the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) in the brains of 81 professional male boxers and 12 male control subjects. Voxel‐based analysis (VBA) of both the diffusion and anisotropy values was performed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM). From this objective analysis, regions of microstructural abnormalities in the brains of the boxers were located. Results Increases in the ADC, and decreases in FA were identified in deep white matter (WM), while decreases in ADC were identified in cortical gray matter (GM). Regions of positive correlation between ADC and age were also found in both the boxer and control groups, although the regions and strength of the correlation were not the same in each group. Conclusion Using VBA, we localized previously unreported abnormalities in the brains of professional boxers. These abnormalities are assumed to reflect cumulative (chronic) brain injury resulting from nonsevere head trauma. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.