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Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
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Test-Retest Reliability of Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Huntington's Disease
James H Cole1, Ruth E Farmer2, Elin M Rees3
1Huntington's Disease Research Group, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, UK; Computational, Cognitive & Clinical Neuroimaging Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, UK.
Plos Currents
|March 28, 2014
Summary
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) shows high reliability for tracking microstructural changes in early Huntington's Disease (HD). These findings support DTI's use in both cross-sectional and longitudinal HD research.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neurology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Huntington's Disease (HD) is characterized by microstructural abnormalities.
- Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a key technique for detecting these changes.
- Understanding DTI reliability is crucial for longitudinal HD studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the test-retest reliability of DTI metrics in early HD patients and healthy controls.
- To validate DTI methods for future longitudinal research in HD.
- To evaluate reliability across different brain regions and DTI metrics.
Main Methods:
- Test-retest reliability was quantified using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs).
- Region-of-interest (ROI)-based and voxelwise approaches were applied to DTI data from 22 participants (10 early HD, 12 controls).
- T1-weighted imaging was used to define additional ROIs in a subset of 18 participants.
Main Results:
- Fractional anisotropy (FA) and other diffusivity metrics demonstrated high reliability in both HD patients and controls.
- Lower reliability in the caudate and putamen was partly influenced by outliers.
- White matter regions showed lower within-subject variability compared to grey matter.
Conclusions:
- The DTI methods employed are suitable for cross-sectional HD research.
- These findings provide confidence in applying DTI longitudinally in HD studies.
- Test-retest reliability varies across brain regions, with white matter being more reliable.
