Diffusion tensor imaging, white matter lesions, the corpus callosum, and gait in the elderly.
Publication/Presentation Date
12-1-2009
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Gait impairment is common in the elderly, especially those with stroke and white matter hyperintensities on conventional brain MRI. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is more sensitive to white matter damage than conventional MRI. The relationship between DTI measures and gait has not been previously evaluated. Our purpose was to investigate the relationship between the integrity of white matter in the corpus callosum as determined by DTI and quantitative measures of gait in the elderly.
METHODS: One hundred seventy-three participants of a community-dwelling elderly cohort had neurological and neuropsychological examinations and brain MRI. Gait function was measured by Tinetti gait (0 to 12), balance (0 to 16) and total (0 to 28) scores. DTI assessed fractional anisotropy in the genu and splenium of the corpus callosum. Conventional MRI was used to evaluate for brain infarcts and white matter hyperintensity volume.
RESULTS: Participants with abnormal gait had low fractional anisotropy in the genu of the corpus callosum but not the splenium. Multiple regressions analyses showed an independent association between these genu abnormalities and all 3 Tinetti scores (P
CONCLUSIONS: The independent association between quantitative measures of gait function and DTI findings shows that white matter integrity in the genu of corpus callosum is an important marker of gait in the elderly. DTI analyses of white matter tracts in the brain and spinal cord may improve knowledge about the pathophysiology of gait impairment and help target clinical interventions.
Volume
40
Issue
12
First Page
3816
Last Page
3820
ISSN
1524-4628
Published In/Presented At
Bhadelia, R. A., Price, L. L., Tedesco, K. L., Scott, T., Qiu, W. Q., Patz, S., Folstein, M., Rosenberg, I., Caplan, L. R., & Bergethon, P. (2009). Diffusion tensor imaging, white matter lesions, the corpus callosum, and gait in the elderly. Stroke, 40(12), 3816–3820. https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.564765
Disciplines
Diagnosis | Medicine and Health Sciences | Other Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment | Radiology
PubMedID
19797696
Department(s)
Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Medical Imaging
Document Type
Article