[Correlation between Fractional Anisotropy and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and Effect of Inte- grative Medical Treatment on ALS].
OBJECTIVE
To explore whether fractional anisotropy (FA) value could be taken as a quantitative indicator for tracing and reexamining amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and to analyze the correlation between FA value and integrative medical treatment.


METHODS
Totally 18 ALS patients were recruited in this study. All patients received diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) using 3. OT (Propeller HD) MRI twice. Six regions of interest (ROI) were selected to measure FA values. Survival analyses were performed in 11 cases of end point events.


RESULTS
(1) Three ROI (cerebral peduncle, posterior limb of internal capsule, and corona radiata) all indicated that FA value was the highest in patients with mild health status scale of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS/HSS). (2) There was statistical difference in the means of FA values in cerebral peduncle, posterior limb of internal capsule, and corona radiata of 18 cases between initial examination and reexamination (P < 0.01). (3) Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed the survival rate of ALS patients decreased as time went by, with the median survival time of 48 months.


CONCLUSIONS
FA value was inversely proportional to the severity of ALS, the more severe, the lower FA values. FA value was an objective indicator for assessing the severity of ALS. ALS is an incurable disease till now. Integrative medical treatment might become one direction for ALS patients.
Mei-li
ML
Tang
Bao-xin
BX
Du
Zhi-yuan
ZY
Chen
Xin
X
Chen
Si-run
SR
Liu
Yu-pin
YP
Liu
Ru-hang
RH
Huang
Bo
B
Liu
D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D016880:Anisotropy; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging; D006801:Humans; D055048:Integrative Medicine