Voxel-based morphometry of the thalamus in patients with refractory medial temporal lobe epilepsy
Voxel-based morphometry of the thalamus in patients with refractory medial temporal lobe epilepsy
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DOI：
10.1016/j.neuroimage.2004.11.050
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发表时间：
2005-04-15
期刊：
影响因子：
5.7
通讯作者：
Li, LM
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bonilha, L;Rorden, C;Li, LM
先前的研究表明，难治性内侧颞叶癫痫(MTLE)患者在颞叶和丘脑内都表现出灰质萎缩。然而，这些研究并没有区分丘脑内的不同核团。我们研究了丘脑萎缩是否与核团与边缘系统其他区域的联系有关。来自49名神经学健康对照组和43名诊断为单侧起源的慢性难治性MTLE患者的T1加权MRI扫描(根据发作期EEG和MRI上观察到的海马区萎缩来测量)。使用自动分割算法测量灰质浓度(GMC)。对GMC进行了逐个体素的分析(保持空间精度)以及使用预定义的感兴趣区域。基于体素的形态计量学显示，相对于丘脑后部，前部GMC明显减少。此外，丘脑萎缩在MTLE起始处同侧比对侧更严重。在这里，我们证明了丘脑萎缩在丘脑核团中最强烈，这些核团与边缘海马体有很强的联系。这一发现表明，丘脑萎缩反映了该区域与边缘系统的解剖和功能联系，而不是普遍的易损性。(C)2004 Elsevier Inc.保留所有权利。
Previous research has suggested that patients with refractory medial temporal lobe epilepsy (MTLE) show gray matter atrophy both within the temporal lobes as well as in the thalamus. However, these studies have not distinguished between different nuclei within the thalamus. We examined whether thalamic atrophy correlates with the nuclei's connections to other regions in the limbic system. T1-weighted MRI scans were obtained from 49 neurologically healthy control subjects and 43 patients diagnosed with chronic refractory MTLE that was unilateral in origin (as measured by ictal EEG and hippocampal atrophy observed on MRI). Measurements of gray matter concentration (GMC) were made using automated segmentation algorithms. GMC was analyzed both voxel-by-voxel (preserving spatial precision) as well as using predefined regions of interest. Voxel-based morphometry revealed intense GMC reduction in the anterior portion relative to posterior thalami. Furthermore, thalamic atrophy was greater ipsilateral to the MTLE origin than on the contralateral side. Here we demonstrate that the thalamic atrophy is most intense in the thalamic nuclei that have strong connections with the limbic hippocampus. This finding suggests that thalamic atrophy reflects this region's anatomical and functional association with the limbic system rather than a general vulnerability to damage. (c) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.