Quantifying Neurodegeneration in Motor Pathways in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis using diffusion MRI
Poster No:
221
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Hannes Almgren1, Colin Mahoney2, William Huynh2, Arkiev D'Souza3, Sienna Berte3, Jinglei Lv2, Chenyu Wang2, Matthew Kiernan2, Fernando Calamante4, Sicong Tu2
Institutions:
1The University of Sydney, Dulwich Hill, New South Wales, 2The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, 3The University of Sydney, Camperdown, New South Wales, 4University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Diffusion MRI is sensitive to white matter changes in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Cheng et al., 2020; Nitert et al., 2022; Raffelt et al, 2012). The current study aimed to establish disease profiles across core motor pathways, and their relevance to clinical progression in ALS.
Methods:
Sixty-five participants (ALS=47; Control=18) were recruited for the study. White matter integrity of motor, somatosensory, and premotor subdivisions within the corticospinal tract and corpus callosum were quantified by fibre density, fibre-bundle cross-section, structural connectivity, and fractional anisotropy. Analyses focused on identifying diffusion metrics and tract profiles sensitive to ALS pathology, and their association with clinical progression.
Results:
Reduced fibre density of the motor subdivision of the corpus callosum (CC) and corticospinal tract (CST) demonstrated best performance in classifying ALS from controls (Figure 1; area-under-curve: CCmotor=0.81, CSTmotor=0.76). Significant reductions in fibre density (CCmotor: p<0.001; CSTmotor: p=0.016), and structural connectivity (CCmotor: p=0.008; CSTsomatosensory: p=0.012) indicated presence of ALS pathology (Figure 2). Reduced fibre density & cross-section significantly correlated with severity of functional motor impairment (ALSFRS-R; Figure 2; CCmotor: r=0.52, p=0.019; CSTmotor: r=0.59, p=0.016). The largest effect sizes were generally found for motor and somatosensory subdivisions across both major white matter bundles.
Conclusions:
Current findings suggest that ALS does not uniformly impact the corticospinal tract and corpus callosum. There is a preferential disease profile of neurodegeneration mainly impacting primary motor fibres. Microstructural white matter abnormality indicated presence of ALS pathology while macrostructural white matter abnormality was associated with functional motor impairment. Quantification of white matter abnormality in corticospinal tract and callosal subdivisions holds translational potential as an imaging biomarker for neurodegeneration in ALS.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Neurodegenerative/ Late Life (eg. Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s) 1
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
Connectivity (eg. functional, effective, structural)
Diffusion MRI Modeling and Analysis
Neuroanatomy, Physiology, Metabolism and Neurotransmission:
White Matter Anatomy, Fiber Pathways and Connectivity 2
Keywords:
Degenerative Disease
Motor
Neurological
Tractography
White Matter
WHITE MATTER IMAGING - DTI, HARDI, DSI, ETC
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
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Was this research conducted in the United States?
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Provide references using APA citation style.
Nitert, A. D., Tan, H. H., Walhout, R., Knijnenburg, N. L., van Es, M. A., Veldink, J. H., Hendrikse, J., Westeneng, H.-J., & van den Berg, L. H. (2022). Sensitivity of brain MRI and neurological examination for detection of upper motor neurone degeneration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, 93(1), 82–92. https://doi.org/10.1136/jnnp-2021-327269
Raffelt, D., Tournier, J.-D., Rose, S., Ridgway, G. R., Henderson, R., Crozier, S., Salvado, O., & Connelly, A. (2012). Apparent Fibre Density: A novel measure for the analysis of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images. NeuroImage, 59(4), 3976–3994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.10.045