Voxel-based meta-analysis of gray matter abnormalities in idiopathic dystonia

Neuroimaging studies have reported gray matter changes in patients with idiopathic dystonia but with considerable variations. Here, we aimed to investigate the convergence of dystonia-related gray matter changes across studies.

The whole brain voxel-based morphometry studies comparing idiopathic dystonia and healthy controls were systematically searched in the PubMed, Web of Science and Embase. Meta-analysis of gray matter changes was performed using the anisotropic effect size-based signed differential mapping.

Twenty-eight studies comparing 701 idiopathic dystonia patients and 712 healthy controls were included in the meta-analysis. Compared to healthy controls, idiopathic dystonia patients showed increased gray matter in bilateral precentral and postcentral gyri, bilateral putamen and pallidum, right insula, and left supramarginal gyrus, while decreased gray matter in bilateral temporal poles, bilateral supplementary motor areas, right angular gyrus, inferior parietal gyrus and precuneus, left insula and inferior frontal gyrus. These findings remained robust in the jackknife sensitivity analysis, and no significant heterogeneity was detected. Subgroup analyses of different phenotypes of dystonia were performed to further confirm the above findings.

The meta-analysis showed that consistent widespread gray matter abnormalities were shared in different subtypes of idiopathic dystonia and were not restricted to the corticostriatal circuits.