Table 2.
Summary of microstructural/diffusion properties findings from studies with DTI data in ALS.
| Publication | ALS | Controls | Main finding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illán-Gala et al. 23 | 31 | 37 | Increased cortical mean diffusivity in prefrontal regions in patients with cognitive or behavioral impairment |
| Baek et al. 73 | 96 | 47 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract at the brainstem and in the cerebellar peduncle area |
| Schuster et al. 26 | 60 | 69 | White matter degeneration of all segments of the corticospinal tract and the corpus callosum predicted survival via binary logistic regression |
| Bharti et al. 44 | 71 | 56 | Altered diffusivity in the superior, middle, and inferior cerebellar peduncle |
| Cheng et al. 24 | 60 | 60 | Reduced fiber density and fiber bundle cross-section in the corticospinal tract and the body of the corpus callosum |
| Qiu et al. 39 | 60 | 60 | Reduced FA in left corticospinal tract and the body of the corpus callosum |
| Christidi et al. 34 | 56 | 25 | Reduced FA in the corticospinal tract, the body and splenium of the corpus callosum, and major associative and limbic tracts |
| Rajagopalan et al. 74 | 45 | 14 | Loss of subcortical fibers and reduced FA in the corticospinal tract |
| Branco et al. 32 | 50 | 38 | Reduced FA in the fornix of ALS patients with behavioral impairment; no changes in the body of the corpus callosum |
| Tu et al. 47 | 20 | 31 | Increased diffusivity in thalamic parcellations associated with the left frontal lobe, bilateral premotor cortex, bilateral motor cortex, right somatosensory cortex, and bilateral parietal lobe |
| Weidman et al. 75 | 43 | 15 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract |
| Christidi et al. 59 | 50 | 40 | Altered diffusivity in the fornix and the right perforant pathway zone |
| Tu et al. 76 | 39 | 25 | Abnormal diffusivity in the rostral body, posterior midbody, and isthmus of the corpus callosum |
| Finegan et al. 62 | 39 | 100 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tracts throughout their intracranial course and in the corpus callosum |
| Müller et al. 77 | 46 | 23 | FA reduction along the corticospinal, corticorubral, and corticopontine tracts in ALS and progressive bulbar palsy |
| Borsodi et al. 78 | 27 | 35 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract |
| Ferraro et al. 11 | 123 | 78 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract and in specific segments of the corpus callosum contribute to disease classification in a random forest analysis |
| Kassubek et al. 79 | 67 | 31 | Reduced FA in the corticospinal, corticopontine, and corticorubral tracts, the corticostriatal pathway, and the proximal portion of the perforant path |
| Müller et al. 80 | 100 | 50 | FA reduction in frontal and prefrontal brain areas, the corticospinal and corticopontine and corticorubral tracts, the corticostriatal pathway, and the proximal portion of the perforant path |
| Welton et al. 54 | 21 | 63 | Lower diffusion kurtosis measures in the motor cortex, as part of a composite score for disease classification |
| de Albuquerque et al. 25 | 53 | 64 | Widespread diffusivity abnormalities in the corticospinal tract and the corpus callosum, with longitudinal progression |
| Christidi et al. 81 | 50 | 25 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract, the body and genu of corpus callosum, and in several extramotor white matter tracts, more pronounced in patients with cognitive impairment |
| Senda et al. 55 | 67 | 38 | Decreased FA in the corticospinal tract (corona radiata and internal capsule), the frontotemporal lobes, and the basal ganglia, more pronounced in rapid progression |
| Omer et al. 60 | 30 | 40 | Widespread diffusivity changes in the corticospinal tract, in frontal and temporal regions and in the brainstem in ALS-FTD patients; no findings in ALS without behavioral or cognitive deficits |
| Bede et al. 10 | 75 | 75 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract and in the corpus callosum contributes to disease classification in a canonical discriminant analysis |
| Agosta et al. 31 | 67 | 22 | Diffusivity changes involving the motor and extramotor pathways |
| Trojsi et al. 37 | 54 | 22 | Altered diffusivity in the body of corpus callosum and the superior part of corticospinal tract, both in slow and in fast progressors |
| Steinbach et al. 82 | 145 | 69 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract, body and genu of the corpus callosum, and adjacent corona radiata, as well as brainstem and cerebellar pathways |
| Chenji et al. 58 | 53 | 43 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract; in ALS with impaired verbal fluency or executive dysfunction: altered diffusivity in the corpus callosum, cingulum, and superior longitudinal fasciculus |
| Bao et al. 83 | 33 | 32 | Increased diffusivity in premotor, primary motor, primary, and secondary somatosensory areas, along the corticospinal tract, and in the body of the corpus callosum |
| Finegan et al. 61 | 33 | 100 | Altered diffusivity in the corticospinal tract (centrum semiovale, corona radiata and internal capsule), body of the corpus callosum, splenium, brainstem, and cerebellum in PLS |
| Trojsi et al. 84 | 36 | 35 | Reduced FA in subcortical areas of the corticospinal tract and in the body of corpus callosum |
| Trojsi et al. 38 | 32 | 21 | Altered diffusivity in subcortical areas of the corticospinal tract, the body and genu of the corpus callosum, uncinate fasciculus, and the superior longitudinal fasciculus |
| Cheng et al. 65 | 60 | 60 | Decreased FA in the right corticospinal tract and the posterior body of the corpus callosum |
| Zhang et al. 85 | 396 | 360 | Reduced FA in the corticospinal tract, the corpus callosum, and the left superior longitudinal fasciculus |
| Gorges et al. 19 | 2064 | 1688 | Microstructural alterations along the corticospinal tract, frontal and midbrain regions, the corticorubral and corticopontine tracts, the corticostriatal pathway, and in hippocampal regions |
| Müller et al. 86 | 166 | 92 | Widespread FA reduction along the corticospinal tract, corticopontine and corticorubral tracts, corticostriatal pathway, proximal portion of the perforant path, and in frontal and prefrontal brain areas |
| Müller et al. 87 | 176 | 88 | FA reduction in the upper and lower corticospinal tract, corticopontine and corticorubral tract, corticostriatal pathway, and the frontal and temporal lobes, both in ALS and in PLS |
| Kalra et al. 88 | 66 | 43 | Progressive FA reduction in corticospinal tract and in the frontal lobes; reduced FA in corticopontine and corticorubral tracts, the corticostriatal pathway, and the midbrain |
ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; FTD, frontotemporal dementia; DTI, diffusion tensor imaging; FA, fractional anisotropy; PLS, primary lateral sclerosis.