Abstract #3268

Alterations of DTI Indices in Bilateral Corticospinal Tract Following Unilateral Stroke in a Rat Model

Deqiang Qiu¹, Maurits P.A. van Meer^2,3, Pek-Lan Khong¹, Rick M. Dijkhuizen²

¹Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; ²Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands; ³Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht

A Diffusion Tensor Tractography-based quantification method was used to study changes of DTI indices in the bilateral corticospinal tract (CST) following unilateral stroke in rats. Significant changes in DTI indices were found in ipsi- as well as contralesional CST, which point toward widespread structural alterations. We found that reduced FA and MD were mainly driven by reductions in axial diffusivity (//), while radial diffusivity was relatively stable.