Relationship of MRI DTI parameters with neurological function in patients with ischemic cerebral infarction and their prognostic value

RAO Xinxu; LYU Zhiqiang

Abstract：Objective To analyze the relationship of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)pa-rameters with neurological function in patients with ischemic cerebral infarction(ICI),and to evaluate their prognostic value.Methods The data of 125 patients with ICI who received MRI DTI were analyzed.According to the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale(NIHSS)score,the patients were divided into mild group,moderate group and severe group.The correlation be-tween MRI DTI parameters,in terms of exponential attenuation(Exat),volume ratio anisotropy(VRA),average diffusion coef-ficient(DCavg),as well as fractional anisotropy(FA),and neurological impairment,was analyzed.According to the 3-month prognosis,the patients were divided into poor prognosis group and good prognosis group.The MRI DTI parameters of the two groups were comparatively analyzed,and ROC curve was used to analyze the prognostic value of these MRI DTI parameters.Results There was no significant difference in Exat or DCavg among the mild group,the moderate group and the severe group(P>0.05).VRA and FA decreased in order from the mild group,the moderate group to the severe group(P<0.05).There was no significant correlation between Exat,DCavg and neurological impairment(P>0.05),while,VRA and FA were negatively corre-lated with the degree of neurological impairment(P<0.05).VRA and FA in the poor prognosis group were significantly lower than those in the good prognosis group(P<0.05).The area under the ROC curve(AUC)values of VRA,FA and their combina-tion for prognosis was 0.720,0.877 and 0.903,respectively.The sensitivity and specificity of combined evaluation were 92.14%and 72.40%.Conclusion VRA and FA are closely related to the neurological function in patients with ICI.The combination of the two can achieve better performance in the prognosis of patients with ICI.