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Updated: Jan 2, 2026
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
Thalamocortical structural connectivity abnormalities in drug-resistant generalized epilepsy: A diffusion tensor
Yiming Zhang1, Luwei Jiang1, Dong Zhang2
1Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of USTC, Division of Life Sciences and Medicine, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230001, PR China; Anhui Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University, 81 Meishan Road, Hefei, Anhui Province 230032, PR China.
Background And Purpose:
Epilepsy is one of the most common diseases of the nervous system. Approximately one-third of epilepsy cases are drug-resistant, among which generalized-onset seizures are very common. The present study aimed to analyze abnormalities of the thalamocortical fiber pathways in each hemisphere of the brains of patients with drug-resistant generalized epilepsy.
Materials And Methods:
The thalamocortical structural pathways were identified by diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in 15 patients with drug-resistant generalized epilepsy and 16 gender/age-matched controls. The thalami of both groups were parcellated into subregions according to the local thalamocortical connectivity pattern. DTI measures of thalamocortical connections were compared between the two groups.
Results:
Probabilistic tractography analyses showed that fractional anisotropy of thalamocortical pathways in patients with epilepsy decreased significantly, and the radial diffusivity of the left thalamus pathways with homolateral motor and parietal-occipital cortical regions in the drug-resistant epilepsy group increased significantly. In addition to the right thalamus pathway and prefrontal cortical region, fractional anisotropy of all other pathways was inversely correlated with disease duration.
Conclusion:
The results provide evidence indicating widespread bilateral abnormalities in the thalamocortical pathways in epilepsy patients and imply that the degree of abnormality in the pathway increases with the disease duration.
