Table 2.

Comparison of MD and FA values for white matter tracts between SLE patients and healthy controls

	SLE (n=47)	Controls (n=47)	p value	Cohen’s d
Female n (%)	43 (91.5%)	41 (87.2%)	p=0.74	NA
Age (years)	48.5 ± 13.7	44.6 ± 11.5	p=0.14	NA
MD (10−6 mm2/s)
Genu	833.18 ± 68.13	751.29 ± 57.36	p<0.0001	1.33
Splenium	1072.33 ± 162.98	761.49 ± 129.37	p<0.0001	2.19
Left cingulum	740.69 ± 44.08	624.21 ± 35.41	p<0.0001	3.01
Right cingulum	721.06 ± 43.33	619.70 ± 35.74	p<0.0001	2.62
Left CST	729.25 ± 30.76	667.24 ± 39.4	p<0.0001	1.82
Right CST	740.96 ± 30.18	683.32 ± 35.31	p<0.0001	1.79
Left ILF	781.68 ± 49.53	728.42 ± 66.48	p<0.0001	0.96
Right ILF	818.16 ± 136.72	703.82 ± 63.03	p<0.0001	1.29
Average	804.6 ± 39.8	692.4 ± 32.2	p<0.0001	3.20
FA (unitless, values lie in the range 0 to 1)
Genu	0.49 ± 0.06	0.42 ± 0.04	p<0.0001	1.42
Splenium	0.52 ± 0.07	0.55 ± 0.06	p=0.008	−0.57
Left cingulum	0.44 ± 0.05	0.46 ± 0.04	p=0.04	−0.45
Right cingulum	0.42 ± 0.04	0.44 ± 0.03	p=0.01	−0.57
Left CST	0.49 ± 0.04	0.44 ± 0.04	p<0.0001	1.26
Right CST	0.47 ± 0.04	0.48 ± 0.04	p=0.24	−0.25
Left ILF	0.45 ± 0.05	0.43 ± 0.04	p=0.08	0.36
Right ILF	0.42 ± 0.05	0.43 ± 0.04	p=0.59	−0.11
Average	0.46 ± 0.02	0.46 ± 0.02	p=0.25	0.24

CST = corticospinal tract, FA = fractional anisotropy, ILF = inferior longitudinal fasciculus, MD = mean diffusivity.