Diffusion Tensor Imaging of Basal Ganglia and Thalamus in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

PURPOSETo assess the involvement of basal ganglia and thalamus in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) method. METHODSFourteen definite-ALS patients and 12 age-matched controls underwent whole brain DTI on a 3T scanner. Mean-diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were obtained bilaterally from the basal ganglia and thalamus in the regions-of-interest (ROIs). RESULTSThe MD was significantly higher (P<.02) in basal ganglia and thalamus in patients with ALS compared with controls. Correspondingly, the FA was significantly lower (P<.02) in these structures, except in caudate (P=.04) and putamen (P=.06) in patients compared with controls. There were mild to strong correlations (r=.3-.7) between the DTI measures of basal ganglia and finger-tap, foot-tap, and lip-and-tongue movement rate. CONCLUSIONSThe increased MD in basal ganglia and thalamus and decreased FA in globus pallidus and thalamus are indicative of neuronal loss or dysfunction in these structures.