ADC histograms from routine DWI for longitudinal studies in cerebral small vessel disease: a field study in CADASIL

Bence Gunda; Raphael Porcher; Marco Duering; Jean-Pierre Guichard; Jerome Mawet; Eric Jouvent; Martin Dichgans; Hugues Chabriat

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097173

ADC histograms from routine DWI for longitudinal studies in cerebral small vessel disease: a field study in CADASIL

PLoS One. 2014 May 12;9(5):e97173. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097173. eCollection 2014.

Authors

Bence Gunda¹, Raphael Porcher², Marco Duering³, Jean-Pierre Guichard⁴, Jerome Mawet⁵, Eric Jouvent⁶, Martin Dichgans⁷, Hugues Chabriat⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Neurology, CHU Lariboisière, DHU NeuroVasc, APHP and Université Paris Denis-Diderot, Paris, France.
² Université Paris Descartes, Paris, France.
³ Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research, Klinikum der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany.
⁴ Department of Neuroradiology, CHU Lariboisière, DHU NeuroVasc, APHP and Université Paris Denis-Diderot, Paris, France.
⁵ Department of Neurology, CHU Lariboisière, DHU NeuroVasc, APHP and Université Paris Denis-Diderot, Paris, France.
⁶ INSERM UMR 1161, Paris, France.
⁷ Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research, Klinikum der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany; Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology, Munich, Germany.
⁸ Department of Neurology, CHU Lariboisière, DHU NeuroVasc, APHP and Université Paris Denis-Diderot, Paris, France; INSERM UMR 1161, Paris, France.

Abstract

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) histogram metrics are correlated with clinical parameters in cerebral small vessel diseases (cSVD). Whether ADC histogram parameters derived from simple diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) can provide relevant markers for long term studies of cSVD remains unknown. CADASIL patients were evaluated by DWI and DTI in a large cohort study over a 6-year period. ADC histogram parameters were compared to those derived from mean diffusivity (MD) histograms in 280 patients using intra-class correlation and Bland-Altman plots. Impact of image corrections applied to ADC maps was assessed and a mixed effect model was used for analyzing the effects of scanner upgrades. The results showed that ADC histogram parameters are strongly correlated to MD histogram parameters and that image corrections have only limited influence on these results. Unexpectedly, scanner upgrades were found to have major effects on diffusion measures with DWI or DTI that can be even larger than those related to patients' characteristics. These data support that ADC histograms from daily used DWI can provide relevant parameters for assessing cSVD, but the variability related to scanner upgrades as regularly performed in clinical centers should be determined precisely for longitudinal and multicentric studies using diffusion MRI in cSVD.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

CADASIL / diagnosis*
Cohort Studies
Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
Female
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted*
Longitudinal Studies
Male
Probability

Grants and funding

Dr. Bence Gunda received grants from the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS) and Institut Servier for this research. This work was supported by PHRC grant AOR 02-001 (DRC/APHP) and performed with the help of ARNEVA (Association de Recherche en Neurologie VAsculaire), HÃ ´pital Lariboisiere, France. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.