Diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging in very early onset pediatric XXXX .

@entity1 @entity854 @entity6789 @entity1893 @entity15
OBJECTIVES: Active myelination during childhood may influence the impact of @entity15 ( @entity15 ) on brain structural integrity. We studied normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) in @entity1 with @entity15 onset before age 12 years using diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). METHODS: DT MRI scans were obtained from 22 @entity15 @entity1 with their first attack before age 12 years, and 31 healthy controls from two referral centers. Using probabilistic tractography, brain tissue integrity within interhemispheric, intrahemispheric, and projection tracts was compared between @entity1 and site-matched controls. The impact of disease and age at MRI on tract NAWM fractional anisotropy (FA) and @entity1893 ( @entity1893 ) values was evaluated using linear models. RESULTS: Compared to controls, pediatric @entity15 @entity1 had reduced FA and increased @entity1893 of the bilateral superior @entity6789 (CC), without center-by-group interaction. CC NAWM average FA was correlated with brain T2 lesion volume. In controls, the majority of the tracts analyzed showed a significant increase of FA and decrease of @entity1893 with age. Such a linear correlation was lost in @entity1 . CONCLUSIONS: In very young pediatric @entity15 @entity1 , DT @entity854 affect brain WM tracts differentially, and are only partially correlated with focal WM lesions. Impaired maturation of WM tracts with age may be an additional factor contributing to these findings.
