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Age-related white matter changes in high b-value q-space diffusion-weighted imaging

  • Diagnostic Neuroradiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Introduction

To assess and compare age-related diffusion changes in the white matter in different cerebral lobes, as quantified by diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and high b-value q-space imaging (QSI).

Methods

Seventy-three cases without neurological symptoms or imaging abnormalities were grouped by age as young (<30 years, n = 20), middle-aged (30–49 years, n = 19), old (50–69 years, n = 18), and very old (>70 years, n = 16) and imaged by a 1.5-T MR scanner for DWI and QSI. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and mean displacement (MDP) values were calculated in the white matter of frontal, parietal, and temporal lobes and compared using Dunnett’s test, with the young group as a control.

Results

MDP values in frontal and parietal lobes were significantly higher in old and very old age groups than in the young, while those in the temporal lobes were significantly higher only in the very old group. ADC values were significantly higher in all three lobes in the very old group.

Conclusion

QSI is more sensitive than DWI to age-related myelin loss in white matter.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the invaluable contributions of Dr. Naoki Kondo, Department of Health Sciences, for the assistance in statistical analysis, and Mr. Hiroshi Kumagai and Mr. Satoshi Ikenaga, Department of Radiology, University of Yamanashi, in carrying out all the imaging for this study.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, University of Yamanashi, 1110 Shimokato, Chūō, Yamanashi, 409-3898, Japan

    Zareen Fatima, Utaroh Motosugi, Keiichi Ishigame & Tsutomu Araki

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

    Masaaki Hori

  3. Department of Radiological Sciences, Graduate School of Human Health Sciences, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 7-2-10 Higashi-oku, Arakawa, Tokyo, 116-8551, Japan

    Toshiyuki Onodera & Kazuo Yagi

Authors
  1. Zareen Fatima
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  2. Utaroh Motosugi
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  3. Masaaki Hori
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  4. Toshiyuki Onodera
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  5. Keiichi Ishigame
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  7. Tsutomu Araki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Keiichi Ishigame.

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Fatima, Z., Motosugi, U., Hori, M. et al. Age-related white matter changes in high b-value q-space diffusion-weighted imaging. Neuroradiology 55, 253–259 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-012-1099-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-012-1099-4

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