title: Quantifying cerebellar atrophy in multiple system atrophy of the cerebellar type (MSA-C) using three-dimensional gyrification index analysis.
abstract: Multiple system atrophy of the cerebellar type (MSA-C) is a degenerative neurological disease of the central nervous system. This study employed a method named, "surface-based three-dimensional gyrification index" (3D-GI) to quantify morphological changes in normal cerebellum (including brainstem) and atrophied cerebellum, in patients with MSA-C. We assessed whether 3D-GI can exclude gender and age differences to quantify cerebellum and brainstem atrophy more accurately. Sixteen healthy subjects and 16 MSA-C patients participated in this study. We compared 3D-GI values and volumes in the cerebellum, based on T1-weighted MR images. We also compared the images of reconstructed 3D cerebellum gray matter (3D-CBGM) and cerebellum white matter (3D-CBWM) to detect the atrophied cerebellar region in MSA-C patients. The 3D-GI values were in a stable range with small variances, exhibiting no gender effect and no age-related shrinkage. Significantly lower 3D-GI values were exhibited in both CBGM and CBWM of the MSA-C patients compared with healthy subjects, even in the early phases of the disease. Decreases in 3D-GI values indicated the degeneration of the cerebellar folding structure, exactly reflecting the morphological changes in cerebellum. The 3D-GI method based on CBGM resulted in superior discriminative accuracy compared with the CBGM volumetric method. Using the two-dimensional 3D-GI values, the K-means classifier can evidently discriminate the MSA-C patients from healthy subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Imaging and Radiological Sciences, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Yu-Te
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Kuo-Kai
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Shyu
authors.forename: Chii-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Jao
authors.forename: Yuan-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Tzu-Yun
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hsiu-Mei
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Po-Shan
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bing-Wen
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Soong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000465:Algorithms; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001284:Atrophy; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000473:pathology*; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019578:Multiple System Atrophy / Q000473:pathology*; D059906:Neuroimaging; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics