Applications of diffusion‐weighted and diffusion tensor MRI to white matter diseases – a review

This paper reviews the current applications of diffusion‐weighted and diffusion tensor MRI in diseases of the brain white matter. The contribution that diffusion‐weighted imaging has made to our understanding of white matter diseases is critically appraised. The quantitative nature of diffusion MRI is one of its major attractions; however, this is offset by the more advanced hardware required to collect diffusion‐weighted images reliably, and the more complex processing to produce quantitative parametric diffusion images. With the now common availability of scanners equipped to perform echo‐planar imaging, the acquisition of diffusion tensor images is sure to become more widespread and routine. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  G J Barker,et al.  Comparison of multiple sclerosis clinical subgroups using navigated spin echo diffusion-weighted imaging. , 1999, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[2]  D. Le Bihan,et al.  Clinical severity in CADASIL related to ultrastructural damage in white matter: in vivo study with diffusion tensor MRI. , 1999, Stroke.

[3]  A. Uluğ,et al.  Diffusion tensor imaging of patients with HIV and normal-appearing white matter on MR images of the brain. , 2001, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.

[4]  P. V. van Zijl,et al.  Three‐dimensional tracking of axonal projections in the brain by magnetic resonance imaging , 1999, Annals of neurology.

[5]  M S Buchsbaum,et al.  Whole-brain diffusion MR histograms differ between MS subtypes , 2000, Neurology.

[6]  Cheuk Y. Tang,et al.  Quantitative diffusion measurements in focal multiple sclerosis lesions: correlations with appearance on TI-weighted MR images. , 2000, AJR. American journal of roentgenology.

[7]  K Kamada,et al.  [MRI of paraventricular white matter lesions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis--analysis by diffusion-weighted images]. , 1994, No to shinkei = Brain and nerve.

[8]  P. Basser,et al.  Water Diffusion Changes in Wallerian Degeneration and Their Dependence on White Matter Architecture , 2000 .

[9]  K. Yorkston,et al.  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis severity scale. , 1989, Neuroepidemiology.

[10]  M Cercignani,et al.  Weekly diffusion-weighted imaging of normal-appearing white matter in MS , 2000, Neurology.

[11]  M. Bronskill,et al.  Anisotropy of NMR properties of tissues , 1994, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[12]  A. Brun,et al.  A white matter disorder in dementia of the Alzheimer type: A pathoanatomical study , 1986, Annals of neurology.

[13]  R. Ito,et al.  Diffusion tensor brain MR imaging in X-linked cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy , 2001, Neurology.

[14]  G. Comi,et al.  Pathologic damage in MS assessed by diffusion-weighted and magnetization transfer MRI , 2000, Neurology.

[15]  G J Barker,et al.  The pathogenesis of lesions and normal-appearing white matter changes in multiple sclerosis: a serial diffusion MRI study. , 2000, Brain : a journal of neurology.

[16]  J. Petrella,et al.  Evaluation of white matter anisotropy in Krabbe disease with diffusion tensor MR imaging: initial experience. , 2001, Radiology.

[17]  H. Hanyu,et al.  Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of the hippocampus and temporal white matter in Alzheimer's disease , 1998, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[18]  P. Basser,et al.  Toward a quantitative assessment of diffusion anisotropy , 1996, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[19]  C. Thomsen,et al.  In vivo magnetic resonance diffusion measurement in the brain of patients with multiple sclerosis. , 1992, Magnetic resonance imaging.

[20]  B Horwitz,et al.  Corpus callosum atrophy is a possible indicator of region- and cell type-specific neuronal degeneration in Alzheimer disease: a magnetic resonance imaging analysis. , 1998, Archives of neurology.

[21]  P. Grenier,et al.  MR imaging of intravoxel incoherent motions: application to diffusion and perfusion in neurologic disorders. , 1986, Radiology.

[22]  S. Rose,et al.  Loss of connectivity in Alzheimer's disease: an evaluation of white matter tract integrity with colour coded MR diffusion tensor imaging , 2000, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[23]  M Cercignani,et al.  A quantitative study of water diffusion in multiple sclerosis lesions and normal-appearing white matter using echo-planar imaging. , 2000, Archives of neurology.

[24]  C. Thomsen,et al.  Increased water self‐diffusion in chronic plaques and in apparently normal white matter in patients with multiple sclerosis , 1993, Acta neurologica Scandinavica.

[25]  Hirofumi Sakurai,et al.  Diffusion-weighted and magnetization transfer imaging of the corpus callosum in Alzheimer’s disease , 1999, Journal of the Neurological Sciences.

[26]  H S Markus,et al.  Characterization of white matter damage in ischemic leukoaraiosis with diffusion tensor MRI. , 1999, Stroke.

[27]  J. Garcìa,et al.  Pathogenesis of leukoaraiosis: a review. , 1997, Stroke.

[28]  R Stollberger,et al.  Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging for characterizing diffuse and focal white matter abnormalities in multiple sclerosis , 2000, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[29]  K Suzuki,et al.  Adrenoleukodystrophy. A clinical and pathological study of 17 cases. , 1975, Archives of neurology.

[30]  Glyn Johnson,et al.  White matter abnormalities in HIV-1 infection: A diffusion tensor imaging study , 2001, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

[31]  E. V. Meerwall,et al.  Interpreting pulsed‐gradient spin–echo diffusion experiments with permeable membranes , 1981 .

[32]  David H. Miller,et al.  Apparent diffusion coefficients in benign and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis by nuclear magnetic resonance , 1996, Magnetic resonance in medicine.

[33]  D. LeBihan,et al.  Molecular diffusion nuclear magnetic resonance imaging. , 1991 .

[34]  M A Horsfield,et al.  Diffusion tensor MRI assesses corticospinal tract damage in ALS , 1999, Neurology.

[35]  G. Barker,et al.  Diffusion tensor imaging of lesions and normal-appearing white matter in multiple sclerosis , 1999, Neurology.

[36]  A. Schröter,et al.  Diffusionsgewichtetes MRT bei Creutzfeldt-Jakob-Patienten , 2000, Der Nervenarzt.

[37]  P. Basser,et al.  Diffusion tensor MR imaging of the human brain. , 1996, Radiology.

[38]  M. Raichle,et al.  Tracking neuronal fiber pathways in the living human brain. , 1999, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[39]  M. Bahn,et al.  Abnormal diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. , 1999, Archives of neurology.

[40]  C Caltagirone,et al.  Demyelinating plaques in relapsing-remitting and secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis: assessment with diffusion MR imaging. , 2000, AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.