Diffusion tensor imaging of cerebral white matter in patients with myotonic dystrophy

To determine whether myotonic dystrophy (MyD) patients have diffusion tensor abnormalities suggestive of microstructural changes in normal-appearing white matter (NAWM).

Conventional and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance images of the brain were obtained in 19 MyD patients and 19 age-matched normal control subjects. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) values were calculated in white matter lesions (WMLs) and NAWM in MyD patients and in the white matter of normal control subjects. Differences between WML and NAWM values and between MyD patient and control subject values were analyzed statistically.

Significantly lower FA and higher MD values were found in all regions of interest in the NAWM of MyD patients than in the white matter of control subjects (P<0.01), as well as significantly lower FA and higher MD values in WMLs than in NAWM of MyD patients (P < 0.05). There was no significant correlation of mean FA or MD values in NAWM with patient age, age at onset, or duration of illness (P>0.1).

Diffusion tensor imaging analysis suggests the presence of diffuse microstructural changes in NAWM of MyD patients that may play an important role in the development of disability.