Naomi Morita1,2, Sumei Wang1, Paulomi Kadakia1, Sanjeev Chawla1, Myrna R. Rosenfeld3, Donald M. O'Rourke4, Harish Poptani1, Elias R. Melhem1
1Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 2Radiology, Tokushima University Hospital, Tokushima, Japan; 3Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 4Neurosurgery, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Knowledge about the micro-structural integrity and location of motor tract, corticospinal tract (CST), is important for presurgical planning. The purpose of this study was to determine whether CST abnormality, measured by DTI, correlates with clinical motor weakness. Nineteen brain tumor patients underwent DTI. FA and ADC were measured in the segmented CSTs from the level of cerebral peduncle to internal capsule. Patients with abnormal motor function demonstrated reduced FA and increased ADC as compared to the patients with normal motor function. This study indicates that DTI has the potential to predict the degree of CST involvement in brain neoplasms.