title: Usefulness of SWI for the Detection of Iron in the Motor Cortex in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the present retrospective study was to evaluate the sensitivity of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) compared to conventional spin-echo T2-weighted and T2*-weighted images in detecting iron deposition in the motor cortex of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients in comparison with age-matched normal controls. We also investigated the etiology of the low signal referring to the pathology of one autopsy case.
  
  
  METHODS
  This retrospective magnetic resonance (MR) study included 23 ALS patients and 28 age-matched normal controls. The signal intensity of the motor cortex was scored by SWI, conventional T2-weighted images and T2*-weighted images. A postmortem study of one patient was also performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  On SWI, there was a significant difference between the precentral cortical signal intensity scores in the ALS patients and the controls (P < .0001). The total scores of signal intensities of the precentral cortex were positively correlated with age in the normal controls (r = .494), but no correlation was observed in the ALS patients. The postmortem study showed intensely stained microglias and macrophages after antiferritin antibody staining in the precentral cortices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Decreased signal intensity of the motor cortex on SWI may serve a useful role in ALS diagnoses, particularly in young patients. MR images were also helpful for speculating on the etiology of ALS.
authors.affiliation: National Center Hospital of Neurology and Psychiatry Radiology, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Yuko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: Yasuhiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakata
authors.forename: Kimiteru
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Kouhei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamiya
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsukamoto
authors.forename: Masahumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ogawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D019190:Iron Overload / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D057054:Molecular Imaging / Q000379:methods; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013113:Spin Labels; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D013113:Spin Labels; D007501:Iron
keywords: alprostadil; erectile dysfunction; prostate cancer; validation