Abstract #0781

A Critical Consideration on the Absence of Significance and the Impact of Structure Size When Interpreting DTI and DKI Results

Filip Szczepankiewicz¹, Jimmy Ltt², Ronnie Wirestam¹, Alexander Leemans³, Pia Sundgren²,⁴, Danielle van Westen²,⁴, Freddy Sthlberg¹,⁴, Markus Nilsson¹

¹Department of Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; ²MR Department, Lund University Hospital, Lund, Sweden; ³Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands; ⁴Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

DTI and DKI parameters are commonly used to compare brain tissue in patients and controls. Such comparisons are frequently based on statistical tests, but analysis of statistical power and potential confounders are often overlooked. In this study we use the cingulum to demonstrate how heterogeneity of the variability and structure size at various positions along the structure can influence the diffusion parameters with respect to both statistical power and interpretation of the results.