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Abstract #0901

Comparing Diffusion Tensor Imaging Metrics of Motor and Sensory Tracts in Children with Spastic Cerebral Palsy and the Levels of Gross Motor Function by TBSS and Tractography

Jiang Hao Xiang1, 2, Li Xian jun3, 4, Gao Jie3, Song Yang5, Zhang Zhe3, Zhang Zeng jun6, Yang Jian7

1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xian Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shan xi, China; 2Department of Radiology, The Xian children's hospital, Xian , Shan xi , China; 3Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, Shan xi, China; 4Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi' an Jiaotong University, Xi' an , Shan xi, China; 5Child healthcare Department, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xian Jiaotong University, Xian, Shan xi, China; 6Department of Radiology, The Xian children's hospital, Xian, Shan xi, China; 7Department of radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Medical College, Xian Jiaotong University.Xian, Xian, Shan xi, China


The aim of this study is to employ DTI with tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and quantitative tractography to further evaluate the correlation between DTI metrics of motor and sensory tracts with gross motor function. 23 children with bilateral spastic cerebral palsy (CP) underwent T1WI, T2WI, and DTI were collected. We demonstrated that FA values in the most of white matter tracts show a significant negative correlation with levels of Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS), and the FA values and fiber count of corticospinal tract (CST) were strongly negative correlated with GMFCS levels. In addition, there were low negative correlations between DTI metrics of superior thalamic radiation (STR) and GMFCS levels, and between the FA values of posterior thalamic radiation (PTR) and the GMFCS levels. The results demonstrated that the CST played a major role in the development of clinical motor and sensory function.