Hongyu An DSc, Presenter: Nothing to Disclose

Yasheng Chen DSC, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Jeffrey Keith Smith MD,PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Colin Hall, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Kevin Robertson PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Kathy Wilber BS, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Wendy Robertson, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

Weili Lin PhD, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

et al, Abstract Co-Author: Nothing to Disclose

It has been reported that white matter pallor is one of the major neuropathological features of HIV-1 infection, especially in the advanced stages of the disease. In this study, a whole brain statistical analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was obtained in HIV patients at different clinical stages by using a normal white matter atlas generated from age matched healthy subjects.

21 healthy volunteers (age 40.8±6.3) and 29 HIV patients (age 41.2±7.4) were recruited with written consent. The HIV patients were divided into three different stages based on clinical criteria: HIV associated dementia (HAD), minor cognitive motor dysfunction (MCMD) and subclinical MCMD. The DTI images were acquired by using a single shot EPI DTI sequence with diffusion gradients applied in six directions. All images were acquired at a Siemens 3T Allegra system. Normal white matter atlas was generated in normal subjects using a 3D elastic registration approach. Tukey’s test was performed for multiple comparison between the normal (n=21) and each of the patient groups (HAD, n=8; MCMD, n=9; and subclinical MCMD, n=12) at a 95% confidence level.

Statistically significant decreases of FA and increases of ADC were observed at multiple regions of the white matter in all three stages of HIV patients when compared to the normal group. These differences in FA and ADC are diffuse and some major regions include genu of corpus callosum, splenium and internal capsule. However, the differences among three patient groups are minimal.

Despite the fact that only HAD and MCMD groups show clinical symptom, reduced FA and increased ADC are also observed in the subclinical MCMD group. Our results suggest that a whole brain diffusion tensor analysis is highly sensitive to reveal changes in white matter even before the onset of clinical symptoms.

An, H, Chen, Y, Smith, J, Hall, C, Robertson, K, Wilber, K, Robertson, W, Lin, W, et al, , Whole Brain Diffusion Tensor Analysis in HIV Patients at Various Clinical Stages.  Radiological Society of North America 2005 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting, November 27 - December 2, 2005 ,Chicago IL. http://archive.rsna.org/2005/4419123.html