Correlation Between Deep Brain White Matter Ischemia and MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Mild Cognitive Impairment / 中国医学影像学杂志

ABSTRACT

Purpose To investigate the correlation between the brain white matter changes of MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and cognitive function in the patients with mild cognitive impairment. Materials and Methods The patients (40 cases) were classified into two groupsgroup A (20 patients with ischemic foci in the deep white matter ) and group B (20 patients without ischemic foci in the deep white matter), and 20 normal controls was enrolled. Conventional MRI, DTI, mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and montreal cognitive assessment (MoCA) were applied, then fractional anisotropy (FA) value and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value were compared among three groups. The scores of MoCA was analyzed between the patient groups. Results The decreased FA value, increased ADC value and decreased MoCA scores was demonstrate in group A, and showed significant difference compared with group B (t=-4.229,-3.251,-7.533,-2.702,-2.660;P<0.05). The increased ADC value and decreased FA value in the frontal and hippocampus region were detected in group B compared with normal controls (t=-7.790,-2.785,-4.415,-5.164;P<0.05). Conclusion The early and special structural changes can be detected using DTI compared with conventional MRI. The severe white matter lesions can be demonstrated in the patients with ischemic foci in the deep white matter, who is prone to dementia.