Multitensor tractography enables better depiction of motor pathways: initial clinical experience using...

The purpose of this work was to test the feasibility of using high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI)-based multitensor tractography to depict motor pathways in patients with brain tumors.

Ten patients (6 males and 4 females) with a mean age of 52 years (range, 9-77 years) were scanned using a 1.5T clinical MR unit. Single-shot echo-planar imaging was used for diffusion-weighted imaging (repetition time, 6000 ms; excitation time, 88 ms) with a diffusion-sensitizing gradient in 32 orientations and a b-value of 1000 s/mm(2). Data postprocessing was performed using both the conventional single- and multitensor methods. The depiction rate of the 5 major components of the motor pathways, that is, the lower extremity, trunk, hand, face, and tongue, was assessed.

Motor fibers on both lesional and contralesional sides were successfully depicted by both the single-tensor and multitensor techniques. However, with the single-tensor model, the depiction of motor pathways was typically limited to the fibers of trunk areas. With the multitensor technique, at least 4 of 5 major fiber bundles arising from the primary motor cortex could be identified.

HARDI-based multitensor tractography using a standard b-value (1000 s/mm(2)) can depict the fiber tracts from the face and tongue regions of the primary motor cortex.