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Whole-brain Segmentation and Change-point Analysis of Anatomical Brain MRI—Application in Premanifest Huntington's Disease
Published on: June 9, 2018
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Differential tractography as a dynamic imaging biomarker: A methodological pilot study for Huntington's disease
Jessica V Barrios-Martinez1, David T Fernandes-Cabral1, Kumar Abhinav2
1Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Neuroimage. Clinical
|June 7, 2022
Summary
Differential tractography, a novel imaging technique, shows promise as a dynamic biomarker for Huntington's disease (HD). It accurately tracks individual disease progression and symptom severity in patients with HD.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Biomarker Development
- Neurodegenerative Diseases
Background:
- Huntington's disease (HD) presents with diverse motor, psychiatric, and cognitive symptoms.
- Existing assessment tools lack sensitivity, objectivity, and dynamic tracking capabilities.
- There is a critical need for individualized and dynamic biomarkers in HD research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of Differential Tractography (DT) as a biomarker for Huntington's disease.
- To evaluate the correlation between DT findings and HD symptom severity and progression.
- To explore DT's potential for individual-level, non-invasive disease monitoring.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 16 HD patients for diffusion MRI scans at 0, 6, and 12-month intervals.
- Applied Differential Tractography to map pathways with axonal injury.
- Utilized deterministic fiber tracking, GEE model for longitudinal data, and Spearman correlation for cross-sectional data.
- Correlated DT volumetric findings with Unified Huntington's Disease Rating Scale (UHDRS) scores.
Main Results:
- DT-identified affected pathway volumes significantly correlated with UHDRS scores longitudinally (p < 0.001).
- Chronological changes in DT also correlated significantly with changes in UHDRS scores (p < 0.001).
- DT demonstrated potential as a dynamic imaging biomarker for individual HD progression.
Conclusions:
- Differential Tractography is a feasible and sensitive tool for assessing Huntington's disease progression.
- DT shows potential as a quantitative, non-invasive biomarker for clinical trials and presymptomatic patient monitoring.
- This technique offers new clinical avenues for evaluating individuals with and without HD symptoms.
