Table 4.
Diffusion imaging studies in SLE and NPSLE
| Study | Sequence, gradient directions | Field | Technique | n (mean age in years) | Comparison | Measurement | Region | Findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SLE versus healthy controls | ||||||||
| Zhang, 2007 | DTI, 26 | 1.5T | MTR and ADC histogram, and ROI | 34 (47) | SLE v HC | FA and MD | Whole brain and Various regions | ↑ MD in brain in SLE ↓ FA in SLE in most regions ↑ MD in SLE in most regions |
| Emmer, 2010 | DTI, 6 | 3T | TBSS | 12 (42) | SLE v HC | FA | Various tracts | ↓ FA in SLE in most tracts |
| Jung, 2010 | DTI, 12 | 1.5T | TBSS | 16 (37) | SLE v HC | FA and MD | Various tracts | No difference in FA No difference in MD |
| Schmidt-Wilcke, 2014 | DTI, 15 | 3T | TBSS & TFCE | 19 (38) | SLE v HC | FA | Voxels and clusters across WM | ↓ FA in SLE in prefrontal WM |
| Zimny, 2014 | DTI, 25 | 1.5T | ROI | 13 (34) | SLE v HC | FA | 14 WM tracts | ↓ FA in SLE in most tracts (see FP) |
| Wiseman, 2015 | DTI, 32 | 1.5T | Quantitative tractography | 47 (48) | SLE v HC | FA and MD | 8 WM tracts | ↓ FA in SLE in most tracts (see FP) ↑ MD in SLE in all tracts (see FP) |
| NPSLE versus healthy controls | ||||||||
| Bosma, 2003 | DWI, 3 | 1.5T | ADC histogram | 11 (35) | NPSLE v HC | mean ADC | Whole brain | ↑ mean ADC in brain in NPSLE |
| Welsh, 2007 | DWI, 3 | 1.5T | ADC histogram | 17 (43) | NPSLE v HC | mean ADC | Whole brain and segmented tissues | ↑ mean ADC in brain in NPSLE ↑ mean ADC in GM & WM in NPSLE |
| Hughes, 2007 | DTI, 9 | 1.5T | ROI | 8 (43) | NPSLE v HC | FA and MD | Various regions | ↓ FA in NPSLE in various regions ↑ MD in NPSLE in various regions |
| Jung, 2010 | DTI, 12 | 1.5T | TBSS | 17 (39) | NPSLE v HC | FA and MD | Various tracts | ↓ FA in NPSLE in some tracts ↑ MD in NPSLE in most tracts |
| Zivadinov, 2013 | DTI, 39 | 3T | Voxel based with tissue segmentation | 26 (48) | NPSLE v HC | MD | NAWM | ↑ MD in NAWM in NPSLE |
| Schmidt-Wilcke, 2014 | DTI, 15 | 3T | TBSS | 19 (39) | NPSLE v HC | FA | Voxels and clusters across WM | ↓ FA in SLE in prefrontal WM |
| Zimny, 2014 | DTI, 25 | 1.5T | ROI in WM tracts | 22 (35) | NPSLE v HC | FA | 14 WM tracts | ↓ FA in NPSLE in most tracts (see FP) |
| SLE versus NPSLE | ||||||||
| Jung, 2010 | DTI, 12 | 1.5T | TBSS | 16 (37) | SLE v NPSLE | FA and MD | Various tracts | ↑ FA in SLE in 2 tracts ↓ MD in SLE in 3 tracts |
| Schmidt-Wilcke, 2014 | DTI, 15 | 3T | TBSS | 19 (38) | SLE v NPSLE | FA | Voxels and clusters across WM | No difference in FA between SLE and NPSLE |
| Zimny, 2014 | DTI, 25 | 1.5T | ROI | 13 (34) | SLE v NPSLE | FA | 14 WM tracts | Generally no difference in FA between SLE and NPSLE (see FP) |
ADC = average diffusion coefficient, FA = fractional anisotropy, FP = forest plot (see Supplementary Material), GM = grey matter, MD = mean diffusivity, MTR = mean transit ratio, NPSLE = neuropsychiatric SLE, NAT = normal appearing tissue, NAWM = normal appearing white matter, ROI = region of interest, SLE = systemic lupus erythematosus, TBSS = tract based spatial statistics, WM = white matter