RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Assessing the Chronic Neuropsychologic Sequelae of Human Immunodeficiency Virus–Negative Cryptococcal Meningitis by Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging JF American Journal of Neuroradiology JO Am. J. Neuroradiol. FD American Society of Neuroradiology SP 1333 OP 1339 DO 10.3174/ajnr.A2489 VO 32 IS 7 A1 C.-H. Lu A1 H.-L. Chen A1 W.-N. Chang A1 N.-W. Tsai A1 H.-C. Wang A1 T.-M. Yang A1 Y.-J. Lin A1 C.-P. Lin A1 C.-C. Chen A1 B.-C. Cheng A1 W.-C. Lin YR 2011 UL http://www.ajnr.org/content/32/7/1333.abstract AB BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The high rate of neuropsychologic sequelae in CM survivors indicates that initial antifungal therapy is far from being satisfactory. This prospective cross-sectional study applied DTI on HIV-negative CM patients to determine whether microstructural changes in brain tissue are associated with subsequent cognitive symptoms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen patients with HIV-negative CM and 15 sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers were evaluated and compared. All underwent complete medical and neurologic examinations and neuropsychologic testing. Brain DTI was obtained to derive the FA and ADC of several brain regions. Correlations among DTI parameters, neuropsychologic rating scores, and cryptococcal-antigen titer in CSF were analyzed. RESULTS: Significant ADC values increased and FA values decreased in HIV-negative CM patients in multiple selected regions of interest, including the genus of the corpus callosum and the frontal, parietal, orbito-frontal, and periventricular white matter and lentiform nucleus. Higher CSF cryptococcal-antigen titer on admission was associated with poorer DTI parameters (r = −0.666, P = .018), which were linearly related to worse cognitive performance during follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The decline in brain DTI parameters in the associated brain areas indicates an HIV-negative CM microstructural pathology that is related to neuropsychologic consequences. ADCapparent diffusion coefficientCASICognitive Ability Screening InstrumentCMcryptococcal meningitisCNScentral nervous systemDTIdiffusion tensor imagingDWIdiffusion-weighted MR imagingFAfractional anisotropyHIVhuman immunodeficiency virusMANCOVAmultivariate analysis of covarianceROIregion of interestWAISWechsler Adult Intelligence scaleWMwhite matter