title: Parameters of diffusional kurtosis imaging for the diagnosis of acute cerebral infarction in different brain regions.
abstract: Diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) is a new type diffusion-weighted sequence which measures the non-Gaussianity of water diffusion. The present study aimed to investigate whether the parameters of DKI could distinguish between differences in water molecule diffusion in various brain regions under the conditions of acute infarction and to identify the optimal DKI parameter for locating ischemic lesions in each brain region. A total of 28 patients with acute ischemic stroke in different brain regions were recruited for the present study. The relative values of DKI parameters were selected as major assessment indices, and the homogeneity of background image and contrast of adjacent structures were used as minor assessment indices. According to the brain region involved in three DKI parametric maps, including mean kurtosis (MK), axial kurtosis (Ka) and radial kurtosis (Kr), 112 groups of regions of interest were outlined in the following regions: Corpus callosum (n=17); corona radiata (n=26); thalamus (n=21); subcortical white matter (n=24); and cerebral cortex (n=24). For ischemic lesions in the corpus callosum and corona radiata, significant increases in relative Ka were detected, as compared with the other parameters (P<0.05). For ischemic lesions in the thalamus, subcortical white matter and cerebral cortices, an increase in the three parameters was detected, however this difference was not significant. Minor assessment indices demonstrated that Ka lacked tissue contrast and the background of Kr was heterogeneous; thus, MK was the superior assessment parameter for ischemic lesions in these regions. In conclusion, Ka is better suited for the diagnosis of acute ischemic lesions in highly anisotropic brain regions, such as the corpus callosum and corona radiate. MK may be appropriate for the lesions in low anisotropic or isotropic brain regions, such as the thalamus, subcortical white matter and cerebral cortices.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yue-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Su-Juan
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: GE Healthcare, Guangzhou, Guangdong 510623, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Ping
authors.initials: ZP
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Wei
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: College of Engineering, Shantou University, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gui-Shan
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Gen
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hai-Bing
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wen-Bin
authors.initials: WB
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong 515000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Ren-Hua
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Wu
keywords: diffusion; ischemia; kurtosis; magnetic resonance imaging; stroke