title: Comparison of seeding methods for visualization of the corticospinal tracts using single tensor tractography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare five different seeding methods to delineate hand, foot, and lip components of the corticospinal tract (CST) using single tensor tractography.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied five healthy subjects and 10 brain tumor patients. For each subject, we used five different seeding methods, from (1) cerebral peduncle (CP), (2) posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC), (3) white matter subjacent to functional MRI activations (fMRI), (4) whole brain and then selecting the fibers that pass through both fMRI and CP (WBF-CP), and (5) whole brain and then selecting the fibers that pass through both fMRI and PLIC (WBF-PLIC). Two blinded neuroradiologists rated delineations as anatomically successful or unsuccessful tractography. The proportions of successful trials from different methods were compared by Fisher's exact test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  To delineate hand motor tract, seeding through fMRI activation areas was more effective than through CP (p<0.01), but not significantly different from PLIC (p>0.1). WBF-CP delineated hand motor tracts in a larger proportion of trials than CP alone (p<0.05). Similarly, WBF-PLIC depicted hand motor tracts in a larger proportion of trials than PLIC alone (p<0.01). Foot motor tracts were delineated in all trials by either PLIC or whole brain seeding (WBF-CP and WBF-PLIC). Seeding from CP or fMRI activation resulted in foot motor tract visualization in 87% of the trials (95% confidence interval: 60-98%). The lip motor tracts were delineated only by WBF-PLIC and in 36% of trials (95% confidence interval: 11-69%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Whole brain seeding and then selecting the tracts that pass through two anatomically relevant ROIs can delineate more plausible hand and lip motor tracts than seeding from a single ROI. Foot motor tracts can be successfully delineated regardless of the seeding method used.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02115, USA. Electronic address: alireza.radmanesh@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Radmanesh
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Amir A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Whalen
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Yanmei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tie
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Ralph O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Suarez
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Golby
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006225:Hand / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D020772:Internal Capsule / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000473:pathology*; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods
keywords: Brain tumors; Corticospinal tract; Diffusion tensor imaging; Functional imaging; Image-guided procedures