PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Vuong, A.
AU  - Fowler, E.G.
AU  - Matsumoto, J.
AU  - Staudt, L.A.
AU  - Yokota, H.
AU  - Joshi, S.H.
TI  - Selective Motor Control is a Clinical Correlate of Brain Motor Tract Impairment in Children with Spastic Bilateral Cerebral Palsy
AID  - 10.3174/ajnr.A7272
DP  - 2021 Nov 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 2054--2061
VI  - 42
IP  - 11
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/42/11/2054.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/42/11/2054.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2021 Nov 01; 42
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Selective voluntary motor control is an important factor influencing gross motor function, interjoint coordination, and the outcome of hamstring-lengthening surgery in spastic cerebral palsy. Using DTI, we investigated whether selective voluntary motor control would show strong correlations with WM motor tract microstructure and whether selective voluntary motor control is more sensitive to global WM impairment than gross motor function.MATERIALS AND METHODS: Children with spastic bilateral cerebral palsy born preterm and typically developing children were recruited. The Selective Control Assessment of the Lower Extremity (SCALE) and Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) were assessed in participants with cerebral palsy. Participants underwent brain MR imaging to collect DWI data. Tract-Based Spatial Statistics was used to analyze the WM for between-group differences and correlations with SCALE and GMFM. ROI analyses compared motor regions.RESULTS: Twelve children with cerebral palsy (mean age, 11.5 years) and 12 typically developing children (mean age, 10.3 years) participated. Altered DTI outcomes were found throughout the whole brain for the cerebral palsy group. SCALE, developed to evaluate selective voluntary motor control in cerebral palsy, showed significant positive correlations with fractional anisotropy in more WM voxels throughout the whole brain and for motor regions, including the corticospinal tract and corpus callosum, compared with GMFM. A significant negative correlation between radial diffusivity and SCALE, but not GMFM, was found within the corpus callosum.CONCLUSIONS: SCALE was a more sensitive clinical correlate of motor and whole-brain WM tract impairment in children with spastic bilateral cerebral palsy, suggesting greater anisotropy and myelination in these regions for those with higher selective voluntary motor control.ADaxial diffusivityCCcorpus callosumCerPedcerebral peduncleCPcerebral palsyCSTcorticospinal tractFAfractional anisotropyGMFCSGross Motor Function Classification SystemGMFMGross Motor Function MeasureMDmean diffusivityPLICposterior limb of the internal capsuleRDradial diffusivitySCALESelective Control Assessment of the Lower ExtremitySCRsuperior corona radiataSVMCselective voluntary motor controlTDCtypically developing children