A tract-based spatial statistics study of white matter integrity in epilepsy

Objective: To investigate the changes of cerebral white matter diffusion tensor in epilepsy patients based on the method of tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Methods: Twenty-six patients with epilepsy and 42 healthy volunteers matched for sex, age and handedness were examined for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). TBSS was used to analyze the changes of each relevant parameter index of DTI in white matter of the brain in all subjects, including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD) and radial diffusivity (RD). Results: Compared to healthy controls, patients with epilepsy had decreased FA and elevated MD, AD, and RD in the anterior thalamic radiation, corticospinal tract, forceps major, forceps minor, cingulum, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus and uncinate fasciculus. (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Widespread white matter integrity was found in epilepsy patients, which may be the structural basis for the development of affective disorders, impaired cognition, and motor abnormalities.