A longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging study in symptomatic Huntington's disease

Abstract

Objective: The striatum and its projections are thought to be the earliest sites of Huntington's disease (HD) pathology. This study aimed to investigate progression of striatal pathology in symptomatic HD using diffusion tensor imaging. Method: Diffusion weighted images were acquired in 18 HD patients and in 17 healthy controls twice, 1 year apart. Mean diffusivity (MD) was calculated in the caudate, putamen, thalamus and corpus callosum, and compared between groups. In addition, caudate width was measured using T1 high resolution images and correlated with caudate MD. Correlation analyses were also performed in HD between caudate/putamen MD and clinical measures. Results: MD was significant..