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Focal Wallerian degeneration of the corpus callosum in large middle cerebral artery stroke: Serial diffusion tensor imaging
Author(s) -
Gupta Rakesh K.,
Saksena Sona,
Hasan Khader M.,
Agarwal Atul,
Haris Mohammad,
Pandey Chandra M.,
Narayana Ponnada A.
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.20677
Subject(s) - splenium , corpus callosum , diffusion mri , rostrum , medicine , fractional anisotropy , cerebral peduncle , middle cerebral artery , stroke (engine) , anatomy , wallerian degeneration , internal capsule , magnetic resonance imaging , cardiology , radiology , white matter , biology , ischemia , physics , thermodynamics , botany , genus
Purpose To detect lesion‐related focal Wallerian degeneration (WD) changes in different segments of the corpus callosum (CC) in patients with large middle cerebral arterial (MCA) territory stroke using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Materials and Methods Eight patients underwent DTI scans at three different time points: six to eight weeks, 10–12 weeks, and beyond six months of stroke onset. Eight healthy age‐matched controls were also scanned using the same protocol at three different time points. Region‐of‐interest (ROI) analysis was performed on seven segments of the CC to determine the fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), and corresponding callosal cross‐sectional areas. Results On repeated‐measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), a significant reduction in the FA values was observed from the first to the third study compared to controls, reflecting temporal degeneration in the rostrum, genu, rostral body, anterior midbody, and splenium of the CC. However, a significant temporal elevation in MD values was observed in only the rostral body and anterior midbody of the CC. This was associated with a significant region‐specific reduction in the cross‐sectional areas at time points beyond six months, and appears to be consistent with the loss of callosal structural components due to interruption of the cortico‐callosal fibers secondary to WD. Conclusion These results indicate that cortico‐callosal topographical changes exhibit a significant temporal decline in observed FA values that is suggestive of cortico‐callosal WD in patients with large MCA territory stroke. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.