Quantitative study of corpus callosum segmentation MRI topology and brain white matter tractography in patients with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Objective To observe the quantitative corpus callosum (CC) segmentation MRI topology and brain white matter tractography variations in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS),and to assess the correlation between quantitative indicators and scores of expanded disability status scale (EDSS).Methods Conventional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were applied in 32 MS patients and 32 healthy volunteers,admitted to our hospital from June 2011 to June 2013.The areas,average diffusion coefficent (ADC) values,fractional anisotropy (FA) values and tracked lines of each CC segment (1-5) and total CC were measured.T tests were used to compare the above quantitative indices in MS patients with those in controls.Linear regression model was used to determine the relationship between quantitative indices and scores of EDSS in MS patients.Results Various degrees of damage of white matter tracts in CC of MS patients could be visually identified by tractography.The areas,FA values and tracked lines of each CC segment in MS patients were smaller than those in controls (P＜0.05),and the ADC values of segment 1-3 in MS patients were larger than those in controls (P＜0.05).Moreover,the areas ([549.13±64.07] mm2),FA values (0.55±0.05) and tracked lines (519.78±79.03) of total CC in MS patients were smaller than those in controls ([614.56±39.67] mm2,[0.67±0.02] and [612.34±39.51],P＜0.05),and the ADC values ([0.93±0.09]×10-3 mm2/s) of total CC in MS patients were larger than those in controls ([0.86±0.03]×10-3 mm2/s,P＜0.05).Both areas and tracked lines of each CC segment in MS patients had negative correlations with EDSS scores (P＜0.05).Moreover,both areas and tracked lines of total CC in MS patients were found having negative correlations with EDSS scores (r=-0.686,P=0.000;r=-0.676,P=0.000).Conclusion Both areas and tracked lines of each CC segment and total CC reflect the degrees of clinical disability in MS patients,which can be used for disease and efficacy evaluation of MS patients. Key words: Multiple sclerosis; Corpus callosum; MRI; Diffusion tensor imaging; brain white matter tractography