Assessment of Optic Nerve Impairment in Patients with Neuromyelitis Optica by MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging

PLoS One. 2015 May 11;10(5):e0126574. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126574. eCollection 2015.

Abstract

Background: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has been used for the evaluation of the white matter integrity. In this study, we evaluated optic nerve impairment in patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) using DTI.

Methodology/principal findings: Optic nerve DTI were performed on 28 NMO patients and 38 normal controls. Fractional anisotropy (FA) values were measured in the anterior, middle, and posterior parts of the intraorbital optic nerve segment. For the posterior intraorbital optic nerve, FA values of BI (0.20±0.07), MI (0.24±0.16), and NA (0.25±0.14) decreased significantly compared with that of NC (0.43±0.07) (P<0.05), and ROC analysis demonstrated that the area under the curve (AUC) measurements for BI vs. NC, MI vs. NC, NA vs. NC, and NMO (including BI, MI, and NA) vs. NC were 0.99, 0.93, 0.88, and 0.96, respectively. The corresponding diagnostic sensitivities of ROC analysis were 100%, 80%, 80%, and 91%; and the specificities were 93%, 97%, 91%, and 93%.

Conclusions/significance: Decreased FA value in the intraorbital optic nerve, especially in the posterior part of the nerve, was demonstrated as a characteristic MR feature for NMO-related optic nerve impairment.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Child
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuromyelitis Optica / diagnosis*
  • Neuromyelitis Optica / physiopathology*
  • Optic Nerve / physiopathology*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a Special Financial Grant from the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2014T70960). This funder had a role in decision to publish. This work was also supported by Nursery fund of Chinese PLA General Hospital (13KMM41). This funder had a role in data collection and analysis.