Quantitative evaluation of cortical thickness in 3T in Behçet’s patients without neurological involvement and parenchymal neuro-Behçet’s disease

Abstract

PurposeTo evaluate the spatial distribution of cortical damage in Behcet’s Disease (BD) with or without neurological involvement using a cortical thickness measurement approach using three-dimensional T1-weighted imaging. Material and methodsFifty-eight BD patients without neurological involvement, twenty-two Parenchymal Neuro-Behçets disease (PNBD) patients, and fifty healthy controls were included in the prospective study. Anatomical 3D T1 images were obtained from all participants using 3T MRI. Using a computational anatomy toolbox (CAT12), we calculated and compared group differences in cortical thickness. ResultsPatients with BD without neurological involvement showed cortical thickness reduction in bilateral frontal, bilateral parietal, and right precuneus compared with the healthy controls (HCs) (p < 0.05 FWE corrected [FWEc]). PNBD patients showed frontoparietal cortical thickness reduction when compared with BD patients without neurological involvement (p < 0.05 FWEc). The PNBD patients showed widespread cortical thickness reduction compared with the HC patients (p < 0.05 FWEc). Disease duration was correlated with cortical thickness in the right pericalcarine (p = 0.012 false discovery rate [FDR], r = −0.40), left pericalcarine (p = 0.013 FDR, r = −0.44), and left transverse temporal (p = 0.007 FDR, r = −0.41) regions. ConclusionThere is a decrease in cortical thickness in BD patients without neurological involvement. Cortical thickness reduction is more prominent in parenchymal neurobehçet's patients. Cortical thickness shows a negative correlation with disease duration in some regions.