Diffusion Anisotropy Changes in the Brains of Professional Boxers
L. Zhanga,
L.A. Heiera,
R.D. Zimmermana,
B. Jordanb,c and
A.M. Ulu
a
a Department of Radiology, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY
b Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, White Plains, NY
c New York State Athletic Commission, New York, NY
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Fig 1. Illustration of regional diffusion and anisotropy measurements with ROIs in the genu CC, splenium CC, anterior IC, and posterior IC.
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Fig 2. Representative axial FLAIR images of subcortical white matter disease (A), periventricular white matter disease (B), and cavum septum pellucidum (C)
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Fig 3. Comparison of FA (A) and Dav (B) measurements between boxers and healthy control subjects. Compared with healthy control subjects, boxers overall and boxers with normal MR imaging have decreased FA in splenium CC (P < .05), genu CC (P < .005), and posterior IC (P < .05) and increased BDav (P < .05) and Dav in both the anterior and posterior limbs of IC (P < .05).
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Fig 4. Robust correlations of Dav and FA in CC of all boxers (A) and boxers with normal MR imaging (B). For the genu CC, Dav = 1.23 – 0.66 x FA, r = 0.59, P < .001; for the splenium CC, Dav = 0.95 – 0.35 x FA, r = 0.37, P < .01.
B, The group of boxers with normal MR imaging. For the genu CC (dots), Dav = 1.19 – 0.61 x FA, r = 0.55, P < .001; for the splenium CC (circles): Dav = 0.94 – 0.34 x FA, r = 0.34, P < .05.
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Fig 5. Diffusion anisotropy maps and diffusion tensor imaging-based white matter tractography of a representative boxer (A and B; 27 years old) and a control (C and D; 29 years old). Intensity is proportional to anisotropy and color shows the direction. The boxer has decreased anisotropy in CC and anterior and posterior limb of IC compared with the healthy control subjects. Fiber tracking showed overall fewer trackable white matter fibers in this boxer’s brain (B) compared with that of a control subject (D). The difference in fibers through the corpus callosum is particularly striking.
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Fig 6. Two boxers with a follow-up study with in 464 days (A) and 658 days (B) apart, respectively. Both boxers showed decreased trackable fibers within the whole brain as well as the corpus callosum compared with the initial study.
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