Brain Microstructure Interrogation by Diffusion Tensor and Kurtosis Imaging in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy Subtypes

Abstract

Background and Purpose

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is commonly used to assess the integrity of gray and white matter (WM) structures in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP). Beyond DTI, nontraditional diffusion techniques such as diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) have been shown to characterize brain tissue further. In this work, we aim to determine the utility of DKI in the differential diagnosis of PSP—Richardson syndrome (PSP-RS) and PSP with predominant parkinsonism (PSP-P) from Parkinson's disease (PD) and controls.

Methods

A multishell diffusion-weighted sequence was acquired at 3 Tesla on a Siemens system in 22 patients with PSP-RS, 23 with PSP-P, 19 with PD, and 19 controls. Fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, kurtosis fractional anisotropy (KFA), and mean kurtosis (Kmean) were calculated for nine deep gray matter regions and six different WM tracts.

Results

DKI identified differences (not found by DTI) between control and PSP groups in the globus pallidum externus, subthalamic region, and putamen, with Kmean in the putamen able to differentiate PSP-RS and PD. DKI WM measurements in the body of the corpus callosum and dentatorubrothalamic tract differentiated PSP-RS from PD, and the corticostriatal tract differentiated PSP-P from PD. KFA in the body of the corpus callosum identified worse microstructural anomalies in PSP-RS compared to PSP-P. DKI metrics correlated with the severity of ocular motor impairment and parkinsonism scores.

Conclusions

DKI measurements could differentiate PSP-RS, PSP-P, and PD and, hence, may be a promising imaging tool for studying structural neuropathological changes in PSP.