Longitudinal changes in white matter following ischemic stroke: A three-year follow-up study

Wang, Changsheng; Stebbins, Glenn T.; Nyenhuis, David L.; deToledo-Morrell, Leyla; Freels, Sally; Gencheva, Eugenia; Pedelty, Laura; Sripathirathan, Kumar; Moseley, Michael E.; Turner, David A.; Gabrieli, John D.E.; Gorelick, Philip B.

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2005.10.008

« Previous Next »Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 27, Issue 12 , Pages 1827-1833, December 2006

Longitudinal changes in white matter following ischemic stroke: A three-year follow-up study☆This

Changsheng Wang
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Room 341B, 1735 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
- Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 312 942 2249; fax: +1 312 563 3571.
Glenn T. Stebbins
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Room 341B, 1735 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
David L. Nyenhuis
- Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Leyla deToledo-Morrell
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Room 341B, 1735 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
Sally Freels
- School of Public Health, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Eugenia Gencheva
- Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Laura Pedelty
- Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
Kumar Sripathirathan
- Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Room 341B, 1735 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
Michael E. Moseley
- Department of Radiology, Stanford University, CA, USA
David A. Turner
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
John D.E. Gabrieli
- Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
Philip B. Gorelick
- Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA

Received 17 January 2005; received in revised form 26 September 2005; accepted 18 October 2005. published online 28 November 2005.

Abstract

Information on longitudinal changes in white matter after stroke is limited. The aim of the present study was to quantitatively investigate longitudinal changes in the microstructural integrity of non-lesioned white matter at 1–3 years following ischemic stroke. In a sample of 80 ischemic stroke patients, we obtained diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) measures of fractional anisotropy (FA), an apparent measure of white matter integrity, in radiologically normal-appearing white matter at baseline and 3 years of follow-up. Mixed model regression analysis results showed a significant improvement in FA from baseline during the first 2 years of follow-up that stabilized by the third year of follow-up. These results demonstrate a long-term improvement in apparent white matter integrity following ischemic stroke that continues, at least, into the second year following the insult.

Keywords: Cerebral ischemia, MRI, Longitudinal survey, DTI