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Diffusion tensor tract-specific analysis of the uncinate fasciculus in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

  • Diagnostic Neuroradiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Introduction

The uncinate fasciculus (UF) consists of core fibers connecting the frontal and temporal lobes and is considered to be related to cognitive/behavioral function. Using diffusion tensor tractography, we quantitatively evaluated changes in fractional anisotropy (FA) and the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of the UF by tract-specific analysis to evaluate the damage of the UF in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Methods

We obtained diffusion tensor images of 15 patients with ALS and 9 age-matched volunteers.

Results

Patients with ALS showed significantly lower mean FA (P = 0.029) compared with controls. No significant difference was seen in mean ADC.

Conclusion

The results suggest that damage of the UF in patients with ALS can be quantitatively evaluated with FA.

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Conflict of interest statement

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan, 113-8655

    Kanako Sato, Yoshitaka Masutani, Takeyuki Watadani, Yasuhiro Nakata, Mariko Yoshida, Osamu Abe & Kuni Ohtomo

  2. Department of Radiology, Juntendo University, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan, 113-8421

    Shigeki Aoki

  3. Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan, 113-8655

    Nobue K. Iwata, Yasuo Terao & Shoji Tsuji

Authors
  1. Kanako Sato
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  2. Shigeki Aoki
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  3. Nobue K. Iwata
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  4. Yoshitaka Masutani
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  5. Takeyuki Watadani
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  6. Yasuhiro Nakata
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  7. Mariko Yoshida
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  8. Yasuo Terao
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  9. Osamu Abe
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  11. Shoji Tsuji
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Correspondence to Kanako Sato.

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Sato, K., Aoki, S., Iwata, N.K. et al. Diffusion tensor tract-specific analysis of the uncinate fasciculus in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Neuroradiology 52, 729–733 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-010-0653-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-010-0653-1

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