Susceptibility-Weighted Imaging Manifestations in the Brain of Wilson's Disease Patients.
OBJECTIVE
It is well known that patients with Wilson's disease (WD) suffer copper metabolism disorder. However, recent studies point to an additional iron metabolism disorder in WD patients. The purpose of our study was to examine susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) manifestations of WD in the brains of WD patients.


METHODS
A total of 33 patients with WD and 18 normal controls underwent conventional MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging) and SWI. The phase values were measured on SWI-filtered phase images of the bilateral head of the caudate nuclei, globus pallidus, putamen, thalamus, substantia nigra, and red nucleus. Student's t-tests were used to compare the phase values between WD groups and normal controls.


RESULTS
The mean phase values for the bilateral head of the caudate nuclei, globus pallidus, putamen, thalamus, substantia nigra, and red nucleus were significantly lower than those in the control group (P < 0.001), and bilateral putamen was most strongly affected.


CONCLUSIONS
There is paramagnetic mineralization deposition in brain gray nuclei of WD patients and SWI is an effective method to evaluate these structures.
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Jinjing
J
Yang
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Xiaohu
X
Li
Department of Neurology, The Hospital Affiliated of Anhui College of TCM, Hefei, China.
Renmin
R
Yang
Department of Neurology, The Hospital Affiliated of Anhui College of TCM, Hefei, China.
Xuen
X
Yu
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Changliang
C
Yu
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Yinfeng
Y
Qian
Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
Yongqiang
Y
Yu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D003300:Copper / Q000378:metabolism*; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D005260:Female; D006527:Hepatolenticular Degeneration / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
D003300:Copper