Xiawei Ou1,2, John J. Hall3,
Charles M. Glasier1,2, Jeffrey H. Snow3
1Radiology Department, Arkansas
Children's Hospital, Little Rock, AR, United States; 2Department
of Radiology, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR,
United States; 3Psychology Section, Department of Pediatrics,
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States
Diffusion
tensor imaging study was performed on adolescents with spina bifida and age
matched controls. The study was aimed to detect the abnormalities in cerebral
white matter microstructures in spina bifida patients. We found significantly
elevated mean diffusivity of water in major white matter tracts, as well as
decreased fractional anisotropy in the corpus callosum and callosal fibers.
In addition, significant changes of white matter DTI parameters were observed
in the cerebral hemisphere with ventricular shunt in spina bifida patients.
Our study provides useful information of brain development affected by spina
bifida.