Abstract #1112

Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Sporadic and Familial (D90A SOD1) Forms of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Biba Stanton¹, Daisy Shinhmar², Vicky Williams¹, Camilla Blain¹, Martin Turner³, Vincent Giampietro², Marco Catani², Steve Williams¹, Nigel Leigh¹, P M. Andersen⁴, Andy Simmons^1,2

¹Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK; ²Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK; ³John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK; ⁴Umea University Hospital, Sweden

We tested the hypothesis that patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) homozygous for the D90A SOD1 mutation (homD90A) show less extensive white matter damage compared to sporadic cases. A voxel-based technique was used to compare diffusion tensor imaging data in 20 patients with sporadic ALS, 6 homD90A patients and 21 controls. homD90A patients showed lower MD and higher FA in motor and extra-motor pathways despite similar disease severity. DTI may provide a useful in vivo method of assessing WM pathology across phenotype and genotype.