Decreased fractional anisotropy of middle cerebellar peduncle in crossed cerebellar diaschisis: diffusion-tensor imaging-positron-emission tomography correlation study.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical usefulness of diffusion tensor MR imaging (DTI) for the assessment of chronic stroke with crossed cerebellar diaschisis (CCD).


METHODS
Twenty-two patients (15 men and 7 women; mean age, 60 years) with chronic stroke (13 ischemic and 9 hemorrhagic) were evaluated by diffusion-tensor MR imaging (DTI) and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron-emission tomography (PET). Fractional anisotropy (FA) and color-coded vector maps were generated. To evaluate afferent fiber systems to the cerebellum, the FA of the bilateral middle cerebellar peduncle (MCP) was measured. Changes of FA values in the MCP were compared against PET results.


RESULTS
In patients with a chronic infarct involving more than one-third of the unilateral hemisphere, MCP of the contralesional side showed an FA value of 0.5226 +/- 0.0174, which was significantly lower than that of the ipsilesional side MCP (0.5366 +/- 0.0159) (one-tail paired t test, P = .0009). On FDG-PET scan, decreased glucose metabolism was observed in the affected cerebellum in 19 patients (86.4%).


CONCLUSIONS
DTI can visualize an altered corticocerebellar circuit in the case of chronic stroke with CCD, which is hardly demonstrated by conventional MR images.
Kim
Jinna
J
Department of Radiology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Lee
Seung-Koo
SK
Lee
Jong Doo
JD
Kim
Yong Wook
YW
Kim
Dong Ik
DI
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016880:Anisotropy; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology; D009434:Neural Pathways; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18