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Quantitative 3-T diffusion tensor imaging in detecting optic nerve degeneration in patients with glaucoma: association with retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and clinical severity

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Abstract

Introduction

To investigate the association of quantitative 3-T diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and clinical severity in detecting optic nerve degeneration in patients with primary closed-angle glaucoma.

Methods

Twenty three patients (42 eyes; 9 men, 14 women) with primary closed-angle glaucoma and 20 healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Both DTI and OCT were performed on the optic nerves of all subjects. The mean diffusivity (MD), fractional anisotropy (FA), and eigenvalue maps were obtained for quantitative analysis. RNFL thickness and quantitative electrophysiology were also performed on all subjects. The association of quantitative DTI with RNFL thickness and glaucoma stage was analyzed.

Results

Compared with control nerves, the FA, λ‖, and λ⊥ values, and RNFL thickness in affected nerves decreased, while MD increased in patients with primary glaucoma (p < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between FA, MD, λ‖, and λ⊥ and the mean RNFL thickness (P < 0.01). The mean FA and λ⊥ values derived with DT MR imaging correlated well with glaucoma stage (P < 0.05), but the mean MD and λ‖ values did not correlate with glaucoma stage (P > 0.05).

Conclusion

DTI measurement could detect abnormality of the optic nerve in patients with glaucoma and may serve as a biomarker of disease severity.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Yongming Dai, MRI Department of Siemens Healthcare, Shanghai, China, for technical guidance. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 81271534 and 81271565, the Distinguished Scholar in Scientific and Technical Innovation Foundation of Henan Province under Grant No. 074200510015, the Distinguished Young Scholar in Scientific and Technical Innovation Foundation of Henan Province under Grant No. 124100510016, and the Science and Technology Foundation of Public Health of Henan Province under Grant Nos. 201202018 and 201003095.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital & the People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 7 Weiwu Rd., Zhengzhou, Henan, 450003, China

    Mei-Yun Wang, Ke Wu, Jianping Dai & Dapeng Shi

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Henan Provincial People’s Hospital & the People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450003, China

    Jun-Min Xu

  3. Department of Radiology, Zhengzhou People’s Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, 450003, China

    Ke Wu

  4. Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Jiangang Liu & Jie Tian

  5. Life Science Research Center, School of Sciences and Technology, Xidian University, Xi’an, Shanxi, China

    Wei Qin

Authors
  1. Mei-Yun Wang
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  2. Ke Wu
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  3. Jun-Min Xu
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  4. Jianping Dai
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  5. Wei Qin
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  6. Jiangang Liu
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  7. Jie Tian
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  8. Dapeng Shi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dapeng Shi.

Additional information

Jie Tian and Dapeng Shi contributed equally to this work.

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Wang, MY., Wu, K., Xu, JM. et al. Quantitative 3-T diffusion tensor imaging in detecting optic nerve degeneration in patients with glaucoma: association with retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and clinical severity. Neuroradiology 55, 493–498 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-013-1133-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-013-1133-1

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