Toward a marker of upper motor neuron impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A fully automatic investigation of the magnetic susceptibility in the precentral cortex

Contarino, Valeria Elisa; Conte, Giorgio; Morelli, Claudia; Trogu, Francesca; Scola, Elisa; Calloni, Sonia Francesca; Serpa, Luis Carlos Sanmiguel; Silani, Vincenzo; Triulzi, Fabio

doi:10.1016/j.ejrad.2020.108815

Cited by 18 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our finding of cortical thinning in the right PCG in patients with ALS is of particular interest and is in agreement with previous cortical thickness studies of ALS [4,5,20] Moreover, this finding is also supported by previous VBM studies reporting precentral GM atrophy in patients with ALS [2,3] Using susceptibility‐weighted imaging, one recent texture analysis study found altered precentral texture feature autocorrelation in patients with ALS [21] Because cortical thickness is thought to reflect the size, density, and arrangement of cells, cortical thickness reductions may indicate the occurrence of substantial changes in the size, number, and/or organization of cells in the overlying brain region. Presumably, the observed cortical thinning in the PCG might be a macroscopic manifestation of the loss of giant Betz cells and the relatively smaller size of the remaining pyramidal cells in Layer V of the PCG in patients with ALS, as previously reported in postmortem studies [22–24] The exact mechanisms underlying precentral thinning, however, remain unknown and need further investigation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Our finding of cortical thinning in the right PCG in patients with ALS is of particular interest and is in agreement with previous cortical thickness studies of ALS [4,5,20] Moreover, this finding is also viously reported in postmortem studies [22][23][24] The exact mechanisms underlying precentral thinning, however, remain unknown and need further investigation. Collectively, the observed cortical thinning in the PCG, together with that observed from previous reports [2][3][4][5]20] suggests that cortical structural abnormalities in the PCG might be considered a common feature in patients with ALS.…”

Section: Cortical Thinning In Alssupporting

confidence: 92%

“…Presumably, the observed cortical thinning in the PCG might be a macroscopic manifestation of the loss of giant Betz cells and the relatively smaller size of the remaining pyramidal cells in Layer V of the PCG in patients with ALS, as previously reported in postmortem studies [22–24] The exact mechanisms underlying precentral thinning, however, remain unknown and need further investigation. Collectively, the observed cortical thinning in the PCG, together with that observed from previous reports [2–5,20] suggests that cortical structural abnormalities in the PCG might be considered a common feature in patients with ALS.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Structural and functional underpinnings of precentral abnormalities in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Cheng

Yuan

Tang

et al. 2021

Euro J of Neurology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and purpose Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of both upper and lower motor neurons. Studies using various magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analytical approaches have consistently identified significant precentral abnormalities in ALS, whereas their structural and functional underpinnings remain poorly understood. Methods Using cortical thickness, fractional anisotropy (FA), and effective connectivity, we performed a multimodal MRI study to examine the structural and functional alterations associated with precentral abnormalities in patients with ALS (n = 60) compared with healthy controls (n = 60). Results Cortical thickness analysis revealed significant cortical thinning in the right precentral gyrus (PCG), superior frontal gyrus, and superior temporal gyrus in patients with ALS. Tractwise white matter microstructure analyses revealed decreased FA in the tracts connected to the PCG cluster in patients with ALS involving the right corticospinal tract and the middle posterior body of the corpus callosum. Additionally, the cortical thickness of the PCG cluster was found to be positively correlated with FA of the tracts connected to the PCG cluster, suggesting that these two structural features are tightly coupled. Using spectral dynamic causal modelling, effective connectivity analysis among the three regions with cortical thinning revealed decreased self‐inhibitory influence in the PCG cluster in patients with ALS, which might be an endophenotypic manifestation of an imbalance in inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters in this region. Conclusions The present data shed new light on the structural and functional underpinnings of precentral abnormalities in ALS.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Our finding of cortical thinning in the right PCG in patients with ALS is of particular interest and is in agreement with previous cortical thickness studies of ALS [4,5,20] Moreover, this finding is also viously reported in postmortem studies [22][23][24] The exact mechanisms underlying precentral thinning, however, remain unknown and need further investigation. Collectively, the observed cortical thinning in the PCG, together with that observed from previous reports [2][3][4][5]20] suggests that cortical structural abnormalities in the PCG might be considered a common feature in patients with ALS.…”

Section: Cortical Thinning In Alssupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 77%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Structural and functional underpinnings of precentral abnormalities in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Cheng

Yuan

Tang

et al. 2021

Euro J of Neurology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The set of cortical and subcortical regions of interest was chosen with the following rationale: (i) we had strong prior expectations on the basis of previous pathological findings, 8,25,26 (ii) we made use of a precise and validated GM parcellation to obtain a reliable and quantitative GM volumetry of the brain in each individual native imaging space. Particularly, the latter choice was operated to avoid any spatial transformation of the reconstructed QSM and CBF images prior to individual marker extractions, as well as to provide an additional quantitative marker for the regional brain atrophy that could possibly inconsistently covary with either QSM or CBF estimation, because of different neurodegeneration processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combining structural and metabolic markers in a quantitative MRI study of motor neuron diseases

Canna

Trojsi

Nardo

et al. 2021

Ann Clin Transl Neurol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective To assess the performance of a combination of three quantitative MRI markers (iron deposition, basal neuronal metabolism, and regional atrophy) for differential diagnosis between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and primary lateral sclerosis (PLS). Methods In total, 33 ALS, 12 PLS, and 28 healthy control (HC) subjects underwent a 3T MRI study including single‐ and multi‐echo sequences for gray matter (GM) volumetry and quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and a pseudo‐continuous arterial spin labeling (ASL) sequence for cerebral blood flow (CBF) measurement. Mean values of QSM, CBF, and GM volumes were extracted in the motor cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, amygdala, and hippocampus. A generalized linear model was applied to the three measures to binary discriminate between groups. The diagnostic performances were evaluated via receiver operating characteristic analyses. Results A significant discrimination was obtained: between ALS and HCs in the left and right motor cortex, where QSM increases were respectively associated with disability scores and disease duration; between PLS and ALS in the left motor cortex, where PLS patients resulted significantly more atrophic; between ALS and HC in the right motor cortex, where GM volumes were associated with upper motor neuron scores. Significant discrimination between ALS and HC was achieved in subcortical structures only combining all three parameters. Interpretation While increased QSM values in the motor cortex of ALS patients is a consolidated finding, combining QSM, CBF, and GM volumetry shows higher diagnostic potential for differentiating ALS patients from HC subjects and, in the motor cortex, between ALS and PLS.

show abstract

“…Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods are robust imaging techniques that enable the evaluation of neurological systems degeneration in ALS in vivo ( Chio et al, 2014 ). Neuroimaging studies have revealed that anatomical and functional changes not only involve precentral gyrus ( Walhout et al, 2015 ; Alshikho et al, 2018 ; Grapperon et al, 2019 ; Contarino et al, 2020 ) and corticospinal tract (CST) ( Senda et al, 2017 ; Gorges et al, 2018 ; Ishaque et al, 2018 ; Broad et al, 2019 ; Baek et al, 2020 ) but also spread to the frontal cortex ( Consonni et al, 2018 , 2019 ), thalamus ( Schönecker et al, 2018 ; Tu et al, 2018 ), and basal ganglia ( Bede et al, 2013 ; Machts et al, 2015 ). On the other hand, quantitative volumetric studies in ALS have detected both gray and white atrophy results in global spinal cord atrophy in ALS ( Rasoanandrianina et al, 2017 ; Paquin et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brainstem Involvement in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Combined Structural and Diffusion Tensor MRI Analysis

Zhang

Jin

et al. 2021

Front. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionThe brainstem is an important component in the pathology of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Although neuroimaging studies have shown multiple structural changes in ALS patients, few studies have investigated structural alterations in the brainstem. Herein, we compared the brainstem structure between patients with ALS and healthy controls.MethodsA total of 33 patients with ALS and 33 healthy controls were recruited in this study. T1-weighted and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were acquired on a 3 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (3T MRI) scanner. Volumetric and vertex-wised approaches were implemented to assess the differences in the brainstem’s morphological features between the two groups. An atlas-based region of interest (ROI) analysis was performed to compare the white matter integrity of the brainstem between the two groups. Additionally, a correlation analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between ALS clinical characteristics and structural features.ResultsVolumetric analyses showed no significant difference in the subregion volume of the brainstem between ALS patients and healthy controls. In the shape analyses, ALS patients had a local abnormal surface contraction in the ventral medulla oblongata and ventral pons. Compared with healthy controls, ALS patients showed significantly lower fractional anisotropy (FA) in the left corticospinal tract (CST) and bilateral frontopontine tracts (FPT) at the brainstem level, and higher radial diffusivity (RD) in bilateral CST and left FPT at the brainstem level by ROI analysis in DTI. Correlation analysis showed that disease severity was positively associated with FA in left CST and left FPT.ConclusionThese findings suggest that the brainstem in ALS suffers atrophy, and degenerative processes in the brainstem may reflect disease severity in ALS. These findings may be helpful for further understanding of potential neural mechanisms in ALS.

show abstract

Toward a marker of upper motor neuron impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: A fully automatic investigation of the magnetic susceptibility in the precentral cortex

Cited by 18 publications

References 25 publications

Structural and functional underpinnings of precentral abnormalities in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Structural and functional underpinnings of precentral abnormalities in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Combining structural and metabolic markers in a quantitative MRI study of motor neuron diseases

Brainstem Involvement in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Combined Structural and Diffusion Tensor MRI Analysis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About