Abstract #3596

Decoupling effects of fiber dispersion and microscopic anisotropy fundamentally change interpretations of DTI in multiple sclerosis

Kasper Winther Andersen¹, Samo Lasič^1,2, Henrik Lundell¹, Markus Nilsson³, Daniel Topgaard⁴, Filip Szczepankiewicz^5,6,7, Hartwig Roman Siebner^1,8,9, Morten Blinkenberg¹⁰, and Tim B Dyrby^1,11

¹Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Hvidovre, Denmark, ²Random Walk Imaging, AB, Lund, Sweden, ³Clinical Sciences, Lund, Department of Radiology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, ⁴Division of Physical Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, ⁵Medical Radiation Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, ⁶Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ⁷Radiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ⁸Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, ⁹Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark, ¹⁰Danish Multiple Sclerosis Center, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, ¹¹DTU Compute, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark

Fractional anisotropy from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI-FA) has frequently been used to probe changes in white matter microstructure, but is also heavily affected by axonal fiber dispersion. μFA removes fiber dispersion effects and thereby estimates the microscopic anisotropy. Here, we found lower μFA in normal appearing white matter in multiple sclerosis patients as compared with healthy controls. In addition, μFA correlated significantly with age, disability and cognitive performance. These relations could not be established with DTI-FA. Our results indicate that μFA could be used as a powerful biomarker for diseases related to micro-structural changes in white matter as well as in studies of the healthy brain.

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