title: High b value diffusion-weighted imaging is more sensitive to white matter degeneration in Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: It has been reported that diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can detect white matter degeneration in the Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain. We hypothesized that imaging of the slow diffusion component using high b value DWI is more sensitive to AD-related white matter degeneration than is conventional DWI, and therefore we studied the effects of high b value on lesion-to-normal contrast and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR). Seven AD patients and seven age-matched normal subjects were studied with full-tensor DWI at three different b values (1000, 2000, and 4000 s/mm(2)) without changing echo time or diffusion time, and the mean diffusivities in the parietal and occipital regions were measured. Statistical analyses revealed that use of higher b values significantly improves both lesion-to-normal contrast and CNR. We concluded that high b value DWI is more sensitive to AD-related white matter degeneration than is conventional DWI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka 812-8582, Japan. tyoshiura@dr.hosp.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshiura
authors.forename: Futoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mihara
authors.forename: Atsuo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogomori
authors.forename: Yasumasa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohyagi
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniwaki
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ichimiya
authors.forename: Naoko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kinukawa
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kuwabara
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Honda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology*; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000473:pathology