Brain Abnormalities in Pontine Infarction: A Longitudinal Diffusion Tensor Imaging and Functional Magnetic Resonance...

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Neurology
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Pontine infarction affects brain structure and function, impacting patient prognosis.
• Understanding the temporal dynamics of brain changes post-infarction is crucial for effective treatment.
• Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are key tools for assessing these changes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To accurately assess the prognosis of patients following pontine infarction.
• To evaluate structural and functional brain changes from acute to chronic phases using DTI and fMRI.

Main Methods:

• 16 pontine infarction patients and 16 healthy controls underwent DTI and resting-state fMRI.
• Functional evaluation using the upper extremity Fugl-Myer (UE-FM) scale was performed at five time points (T1-T5) up to six months post-onset.
• Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) was employed for voxelwise analysis.

Main Results:

• Pontine infarction patients showed significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) values compared to controls.
• FA values increased in 10 regions of interest by half a month (T2) and in the corticospinal tract by one month (T3).
• Frontal lobe activity decreased initially then increased, mirroring the upward trend in UE-FM scores, indicating motor function recovery.

Conclusions:

• Brain microstructure changes are most pronounced within half a month after pontine infarction, stabilizing by one month.
• Later motor function recovery is primarily driven by cortical changes.
• These findings offer insights for developing targeted treatment strategies for pontine infarction.