Diffusion Tensor Imaging Predicts Motor Functional Outcome after Acute Hypertensive Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Early evaluation of the corticospinal tract (CST) is critical for patients with acute hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) to predict long-term motor functional outcome. Therefore, we investigated motor functional outcome of an ICH using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in patients with hypertensive ICH. Thirty six patients with hemiparesis due to hypertensive ICH underwent DTI within 3 days after onset. Fractional anisotropy (FA) was measured within the CST at levels of the posterior limbs of the internal capsules, and motor impairment was assessed on admission and 8 weeks after ICH by manual muscle test. The correlation between FA ratio and improvement of motor function was analyzed by Pearson’s correlation analysis. The FA ratio from the initial DTI showed a correlation with motor function improvement. The amount of hematoma correlated with motor function on admission, but did not show correlation with the degree of motor recovery. Therefore, FA ratio analysis calculated from FA values of DTI could be a prognostic factor of motor function improvement in patients with hypertensive ICH.