title: Association of Optic Radiation Integrity with Cortical Thickness in Children with Anisometropic Amblyopia.
abstract: Previous studies have indicated regional abnormalities of both gray and white matter in amblyopia. However, alterations of cortical thickness associated with changes in white matter integrity have rarely been reported. In this study, structural magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were obtained from 15 children with anisometropic amblyopia and 15 age- and gender-matched children with normal sight. Combining DTI and surface-based morphometry, we examined a potential linkage between disrupted white matter integrity and altered cortical thickness. The fractional anisotropy (FA) values in the optic radiations (ORs) of children with anisometropic amblyopia were lower than in controls (P < 0.05). The cortical thickness in amblyopic children was lower than controls in the following subregions: lingual cortex, lateral occipitotemporal gyrus, cuneus, occipital lobe, inferior parietal lobe, and temporal lobe (P < 0.05, corrected), but was higher in the calcarine gyrus (P < 0.05, corrected). Node-by-node correlation analysis of changes in cortical thickness revealed a significant association between a lower FA value in the OR and diminished cortical thickness in the following subregions: medial lingual cortex, lateral occipitotemporal gyrus, lateral, superior, and medial occipital cortex, and lunate cortex. We also found a relationship between changes of cortical thickness and white matter OR integrity in amblyopia. These findings indicate that developmental changes occur simultaneously in the OR and visual cortex in amblyopia, and provide key information on complex damage of brain networks in anisometropic amblyopia. Our results also support the hypothesis that the pathogenesis of anisometropic amblyopia is neurodevelopmental.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.|Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China.
authors.forename: Shun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Yun-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Mu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Long-Biao
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, The Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Medical University, Xi'an, 710077, China.
authors.forename: Rong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Qing
authors.initials: JQ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, 710061, China. yj1118@mail.xjtu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, 710032, China. yinhong@fmmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D000550:Amblyopia / Q000473:pathology*; D016880:Anisotropy; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Anisometropic amblyopia; Children; Cortical thickness; Diffusion tensor imaging; Optic radiation