title: Quantitative evaluation of brainstem involvement in multiple system atrophy by diffusion-weighted MR imaging.
abstract: In multiple system atrophy (MSA), symptoms associated with dysfunctions of the brainstem and autonomic nervous system are important prognostic factors. We investigated brainstem involvement in 12 patients with MSA with predominant cerebellar symptoms (MSA-C) (mean age, 56.3 +/- 9.9 years, median disease duration, 3 years), and 11 controls (57.6 +/- 12.0 years) matched for age using diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI). We demonstrated that apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) in the pons and middle cerebellar peduncle of MSA-C patients are significantly higher than those of normal controls even though the patients are in the early stage of the disease. Furthermore, we demonstrated that increased ADC values correlated well with the disease duration. The current study demonstrated that DWI is a useful noninvasive method for the quantitative evaluation of the brainstem involvement in MSA-C patients.
authors.affiliation: Dept. of Neurology, Brain Research Institute, Niigata University, 1 Asahimati, Niigata 951-8585, Japan.
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: Takayoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimohata
authors.forename: Kenshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Terajima
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Onodera
authors.forename: Keiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsuji
authors.forename: Kouichirou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Masatoyo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nishizawa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000473:pathology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019578:Multiple System Atrophy / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies