Skip Navigation



Brain Advance Access published online on June 15, 2005
Brain, doi:10.1093/brain/awh567
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
128/12/2926    most recent
awh567v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Fazekas, F.
Right arrow Articles by Schmidt, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Fazekas, F.
Right arrow Articles by Schmidt, R.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author (2005). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Guarantors of Brain. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oupjournals.org
Received January 23, 2005
Revised March 29, 2005
Accepted May 19, 2005

Article

MTI of white matter hyperintensities

Franz Fazekas 1*, Stefan Ropele 1, Christian Enzinger 1, Faton Gorani 1, Alexandra Seewann 1, Katja Petrovic 1, and Reinhold Schmidt 1

1 Department of Neurology, Medical University Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 22, A-8036 Graz, Austria; Department of Radiology, Medical University Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 22, A-8036 Graz, Austria

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Franz Fazekas, E-mail: franz.fazekas{at}meduni-graz.at


  Abstract

The severity of tissue changes associated with incidental white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in the elderly cannot be sufficiently determined by conventional MRI. We, therefore, performed a regional analysis of the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) maps obtained on a 1.5 T scanner from 198 neurologically asymptomatic participants of the Austrian Stroke Prevention Study (mean age 70, age range 52-87 years) in regard to WMH and predefined areas of normal appearing brain tissue. Fluid attenuated inversion recovery MRI was used to grade lesion severity and for lesion volume measurements. The MTR of WMH was always significantly lower than that of normal appearing white matter (NAWM) with an overall relative reduction of ~10% and decreased significantly with increasing scores of WMH severity (P = 0.02) and WMH volume (r = -0.24, P = 0.0016). NAWM MTR was not different between subjects with very few and extensive WMH and the WMH volume was associated with NAWM MTR of the frontal lobes only. Concerning a possible impact on cerebral functioning the MTR of the frontal NAWM was significantly associated with fine motor dexterity (P = 0.04) but not with cognitive performance. A significant decline of the MTR with aging was seen in both NAWM and cortex but not in WMH. We conclude that MTR measurements can serve to quantify WMH associated tissue damage. It is predominantly focal, relatively mild, increases with lesion size and may have remote effects on the frontal white matter.

Keywords: ageing; cerebral small vessel disease; magnetization transfer imaging; white matter injury.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 NeurologyHome page
M. P. Amato, E. Portaccio, M. L. Stromillo, B. Goretti, V. Zipoli, G. Siracusa, M. Battaglini, A. Giorgio, M. L. Bartolozzi, L. Guidi, et al.
Cognitive assessment and quantitative magnetic resonance metrics can help to identify benign multiple sclerosis
Neurology, August 26, 2008; 71(9): 632 - 638.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 StrokeHome page
C. M. Holland, E. E. Smith, I. Csapo, M. E. Gurol, D. A. Brylka, R. J. Killiany, D. Blacker, M. S. Albert, C. R.G. Guttmann, and S. M. Greenberg
Spatial Distribution of White-Matter Hyperintensities in Alzheimer Disease, Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, and Healthy Aging
Stroke, April 1, 2008; 39(4): 1127 - 1133.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
N. Bunzeck, H. Schutze, S. Stallforth, J. Kaufmann, S. Duzel, H.-J. Heinze, and E. Duzel
Mesolimbic Novelty Processing in Older Adults
Cereb Cortex, December 1, 2007; 17(12): 2940 - 2948.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 StrokeHome page
R. Schmidt, K. Petrovic, S. Ropele, C. Enzinger, and F. Fazekas
Progression of Leukoaraiosis and Cognition
Stroke, September 1, 2007; 38(9): 2619 - 2625.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 BrainHome page
N. De Stefano, M. Battaglini, M. L. Stromillo, V. Zipoli, M. L. Bartolozzi, L. Guidi, G. Siracusa, E. Portaccio, A. Giorgio, S. Sorbi, et al.
Brain damage as detected by magnetization transfer imaging is less pronounced in benign than in early relapsing multiple sclerosis
Brain, August 1, 2006; 129(8): 2008 - 2016.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 NeurologyHome page
B. Benedetti, A. Charil, M. Rovaris, E. Judica, P. Valsasina, M. P. Sormani, and M. Filippi
Influence of aging on brain gray and white matter changes assessed by conventional, MT, and DT MRI
Neurology, February 28, 2006; 66(4): 535 - 539.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.