Abstract
Background: Tuberous sclerosis (TS) is characterised by benign hamartomatous lesions in many organs. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can detect microstructural changes in pathological processes. Objective: To determine apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) maps in children with TS and to investigate the diffusion properties in cortical tubers, white-matter lesions, perilesional white matter, and contralateral normal-appearing white matter, and to compare the results with ADC and FA maps of normal age- and sex-matched volunteers. Materials and methods: Seven children and adolescents (age range 2–20 years) suffering from TS were included. MRI was performed on a 1.5-T scanner using a transmit/receive coil with T1-W and T2-W spin-echo and FLAIR sequences. DT images were acquired by using a single-shot echo-planar pulse sequence. Diffusion gradients were applied in six different directions with a b value of 1,000 s/mm2. Results: ADC was higher in cortical tubers than in the corresponding cortical location of controls. ADC values were higher and FA values were lower in white-matter lesions and perilesional white matter than in both the contralateral normal-appearing white matter of patients and in controls. There were no significant differences for both ADC and FA values in the normal-appearing white matter of patients with TS compared to controls. Conclusions: DTI provides important information about cortical tubers, white-matter abnormalities, and perilesional white matter in patients with TS.
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Acknowledgements
Demet Karadag was supported by a fund of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Part of this study was supported by the Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research (IZKF), Jena, Germany, within the project TP 1.8.
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Karadag, D., Mentzel, HJ., Güllmar, D. et al. Diffusion tensor imaging in children and adolescents with tuberous sclerosis. Pediatr Radiol 35, 980–983 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-005-1504-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-005-1504-9