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Updated: Sep 25, 2025
Diffusion Tensor Magnetic Resonance Imaging in the Analysis of Neurodegenerative Diseases
Published on: July 28, 2013
A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Analysis of Frontal Lobe White Matter Microstructure in Trigonocephaly Patients
Catherine A de Planque1, Linda Gaillard1, Henri A Vrooman2
1Department of Plastic, Reconstructive Surgery and Hand Surgery, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Background:
Children with trigonocephaly are at risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. The aim of this study is to investigate white matter properties of the frontal lobes in young, unoperated patients with metopic synostosis as compared to healthy controls using diffusion tension imaging (DTI).
Methods:
Preoperative DTI data sets of 46 patients with trigonocephaly with a median age of 0.49 (interquartile range: 0.38) years were compared with 21 controls with a median age of 1.44 (0.98) years. White matter metrics of the tracts in the frontal lobe were calculated using FMRIB Software Library (FSL). The mean value of tract-specific fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) were estimated for each subject and compared to healthy controls. By linear regression, FA and MD values per tract were assessed by trigonocephaly, sex, and age.
Results:
The mean FA and MD values in the frontal lobe tracts of untreated trigonocephaly patients, younger than 3 years, were not significantly different in comparison to controls, where age showed to be a significant associated factor.
Conclusions:
Microstructural parameters of white matter tracts of the frontal lobe of patients with trigonocephaly are comparable to those of controls aged 0-3 years.
