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Updated: Jul 1, 2025
Diffusion Imaging in the Rat Cervical Spinal Cord
Published on: April 7, 2015
Dynamic monitoring of radiation-induced white matter microstructure injury in nasopharyngeal carcinoma via
Tiansheng Li1, Yihao Guo1, Xin Jin1
1Department of Radiology, Hainan General Hospital (Hainan Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University), NO. 19, Xiuhua St, Xiuying Dic, Haikou, Hainan, 570311, PR China.
Purpose:
To investigate white matter microstructural abnormalities caused by radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients using MRI high-angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI).
Methods:
We included 127 patients with pathologically confirmed NPC: 36 in the pre-radiotherapy group, 29 in the acute response period (post-RT-AP), 23 in the early delayed period (post-RT-ED) group, and 39 in the late-delayed period (post-RT-LD) group. HARDI data were acquired for each patient, and dispersion parameters were calculated to compare the differences in specific fibre bundles among the groups. The Montreal Neurocognitive Assessment (MoCA) was used to evaluate neurocognitive function, and the correlations between dispersion parameters and MoCA were analysed.
Results:
In the right cingulum frontal parietal bundles, the fractional anisotropy value decreased to the lowest level post-RT-AP and then reversed and increased post-RT-ED and post-RT-LD. The mean, axial, and radial diffusivity were significantly increased in the post-RT-AP (p < 0.05) and decreased in the post-RT-ED and post-RT-LD groups to varying degrees. MoCA scores were decreased post-radiotherapy than those before radiotherapy (p = 0.005). MoCA and mean diffusivity exhibited a mild correlation in the left cingulum frontal parahippocampal bundle.
Conclusions:
White matter tract changes detected by HARDI are potential biomarkers for monitoring radiotherapy-related brain damage in NPC patients.
