title: Diffusion tensor imaging of Guillain-Mollaret triangle in patients with hypertrophic olivary degeneration.
abstract: The aim of the study is to analyze diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) characteristics of the Guillain-Mollaret triangle (GMT) in patients with hypertrophic olivary degeneration (HOD) and to investigate their correlation with previously reported histopathology. DTI was performed in 10 patients diagnosed with HOD. Fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion coefficient, axial diffusivity, and radial diffusivity were measured in the inferior olivary nucleus (IO), the central tegmental tract, the red and the dentate nuclei, and the superior cerebellar peduncle of HOD patients and compared to age, sex, and side-matched 10 neurologically normal population. The prominent finding on DTI in affected IO was an increase in radial diffusivity compatible with demyelination. While conventional magnetic resonance imaging did not show any sign of involvement in the other components of GMT, DTI demonstrated signal changes in all anatomical components of the GMT. Main DTI findings in GMT of patients with HOD were an increase in radial diffusivity representing demyelination and an increase in axial diffusivity that is reflective of neuronal hypertrophy. DTI parameters can reflect the spatiotemporal evolution of transneuronal degeneration associated with HOD in a manner consistent with the known pathologic stages of HOD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, School of Medicine, Acibadem University, and Department of Radiology, Acibadem Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. adincer@asg.com.tr
authors.forename: Alp
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dinçer
authors.forename: Onur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Özyurt
authors.forename: Dilaver
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.forename: Elif
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koşak
authors.forename: Cengizhan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Öztürk
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Erzen
authors.forename: M Necmettin
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Pamir
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009410:Nerve Degeneration / Q000473:pathology*; D009847:Olivary Nucleus / Q000473:pathology*