Meeting Banner
Abstract #2058

Aberrant Change of Arcuate Fasciculus Geometry in Children with Angelman Syndrome: Diffusion Tensor MRI Study

Jeong-Won Jeong1,2, Senthil Sundaram1,2, Benjamin Wilson1,2, Harry T. Chugani, 2,3

1Pediatrics and Neurology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States; 2PET center, Children's Hospital of Michigan, Detroit, MI, United States; 3Pediatrics, Neurology, and Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States


Angelman syndrome (AS) is a genetic disorder characterized by mental retardation, speech impairment, and gait apraxia. Speech impairment is universal but severity differs, which can be characterized by myelination delay or deficits of white matter associated with language production and conception, especially of arcuate fasciculus (AF) bridging Brocas and Wernickes areas. This study presents new DT-MRI methodology to identify aberrant shapes of arcuate fibers and quantify abnormal tracts in terms of their geometry. We found that the AF of AS patients have steeper lateral-curvatures cauisng them not to reach Wernicke area and also their FA values were significantly reduced.