Mohamed Mustafa Hirji1,2, Ashley D. Harris,
2,3, Robert K. Kosior, 2,4, Cheryl R. McCreary, 2,5,
Richard Frayne2,5
1University of Calgary, Calgary,
Alberta, Canada; 2Seaman Family MR Research Centre, Alberta Health
Services, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; 3School of Psychology &
Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre, Cardiff University,
Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom; 4Biomedical Engineering,
University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; 5Radiology &
Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
We
characterise the fractional anisotropy (FA) changes in ischemic stroke.
Diffusion tensor images of 13 patients were obtained within 26 hours of
stroke (acutely) and >21 days later (follow-up). FA and eigenvalues were
measured in freehand regions of interest (ROIs); anatomically-matched
contralateral ROIs were used for control. Acutely, FA increased in gray
matter (GM) but not in white matter (WM); the eigenvalue reductions were
unbalanced in GM, but balanced in WM. At follow-up, FA decreased in both GM and
WM with the eigenvalue changes similar in both GM and WM. Our results give
insight into microstructural changes in stroke.