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Abstract #0445

Correlating Spinal Cord Diffusion Tensor Imaging Metrics to Clinical Measures in Patients with Adrenomyeloneuropathy

Aliya Gifford1, Kathy Zackowski2,3, Joseph Wang2, Peter C.M. van Zijl4,5, Gerald Raymond1,3, Seth Smith6,7

1Department of Neurogenetics, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States; 2Motion Analysis Laboratory, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD; 3Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; 4Department of Radiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; 5F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD; 6Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Nashville, TN, United States; 7Department of Radiology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN


Pathologic changes in adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) are associated with the spinal cord and characterized by primary distal axonopathy with secondary demyelination. We hypothesized that diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics correlate with the disease severity and neurological and physiological deficits. Nine healthy volunteers and 40 AMN patients (20 M, 20 F) were imaged at 3T. DTI-derived metrics were measured for the upper cervical spine. Functional measures of sensation were found to correlate significantly (p<0.01) with diffusivity in the dorsal column. These results support a strong structure-function relationship between the DTI-derived metrics of the spinal cord and clinical dysfunction.