Preliminary observations of increased diffusional kurtosis in human brain following recent cerebral infarction.
By application of the MRI method of diffusional kurtosis imaging, a substantially increased diffusional kurtosis was observed within the cerebral ischemic lesions of three stroke subjects, 13-26 h following the onset of symptoms. This increase is interpreted as probably reflecting a higher degree of diffusional heterogeneity in the lesions when compared with normal-appearing contralateral tissue. In addition, for two of the subjects with white matter infarcts, the increase had a strong fiber tract orientational dependence. It is proposed that this effect is consistent with a large drop in the intra-axonal diffusivity, possibly related to either axonal varicosities or alterations associated with the endoplasmic reticulum.
Center for Biomedical Imaging, Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY 10016-3295, USA. jj33@nyu.edu
Jens H
JH
Jensen
Maria F
MF
Falangola
Caixia
C
Hu
Ali
A
Tabesh
Otto
O
Rapalino
Calvin
C
Lo
Joseph A
JA
Helpern
D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000473:pathology*; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged