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Neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors

INTRODUCTION: In posterior fossa tumor survivors, lower white matter integrity (WMI) in the right cerebellar-left frontal pathway has been well documented and appears to be related to proximity to the cerebellum, radiation treatment, as well as time since treatment in both cranial radiation and surg...

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Autores principales: Ailion, Alyssa S., Roberts, Simone Renée, Crosson, Bruce, King, Tricia Z.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6593203/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31229941
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101894
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author Ailion, Alyssa S.
Roberts, Simone Renée
Crosson, Bruce
King, Tricia Z.
author_facet Ailion, Alyssa S.
Roberts, Simone Renée
Crosson, Bruce
King, Tricia Z.
author_sort Ailion, Alyssa S.
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: In posterior fossa tumor survivors, lower white matter integrity (WMI) in the right cerebellar-left frontal pathway has been well documented and appears to be related to proximity to the cerebellum, radiation treatment, as well as time since treatment in both cranial radiation and surgery-only treatment groups. The current study investigated theories of transneural degeneration following cerebellar tumor resection that may underlie or relate to reductions in WMI and regional brain volumes using correlations. We hypothesized a positive relationship between the volume of the right cerebellum and known white matter output pathways, as well as with the volume of structures that receive cerebellar projections along the pathway. METHODS: Adult survivors of childhood brain tumors were recruited (n = 29; age, M = 22 years, SD = 5; 45% female). Age- and gender-matched controls were also included (n = 29). Participants completed 3 T diffusion-weighted and T1 MPRAGE MRI scans. Brain structure volume relative to intracranial vault served as regional volumetric measures. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD) served as WMI measures. In the survivor group, partial correlations between WMI and regional volume included controlling for disease severity. RESULTS: In posterior fossa tumor survivors, the volumes of the cerebellum, thalamus, and frontal lobe were correlated with WMI of the thalamic-frontal segment of the cerebellar-frontal pathway (r = 0.41–0.49, p < .05). Cerebellar atrophy was correlated with reduced WMI in the cerebellar-rubral segment (FA, r = −0.32 p > .05; RD, r = 0.53, p < .01). In the no-radiation survivor group, the regional volume of each structure along the pathway was associated with WMI in the cerebellar-rubral segment. In the radiation survivor group, significant correlations were found between the regional brain volume of each structure and the thalamic-frontal segment of the pathway. DISCUSSION: The results of this multimodal neuroimaging study provide correlational evidence that the mechanism of injury subsequent to brain tumor treatment may be different depending on type of treatment(s). Without radiation, the primary mechanism of injury is cerebellar tumor growth, resection, and hydrocephalus. Therefore, the most proximal connection to that injury (cerebellar-rubral pathway) was correlated with reductions in volume along the pathway. In contrast, the survivor group treated with radiation may have had possible radiation-induced demyelination of the thalamic-frontal portion of the pathway, based on a strong correlation with volume loss in the cerebellum, red nucleus, thalamus, and frontal lobe.
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spelling pubmed-65932032019-07-09 Neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors Ailion, Alyssa S. Roberts, Simone Renée Crosson, Bruce King, Tricia Z. Neuroimage Clin Regular Article INTRODUCTION: In posterior fossa tumor survivors, lower white matter integrity (WMI) in the right cerebellar-left frontal pathway has been well documented and appears to be related to proximity to the cerebellum, radiation treatment, as well as time since treatment in both cranial radiation and surgery-only treatment groups. The current study investigated theories of transneural degeneration following cerebellar tumor resection that may underlie or relate to reductions in WMI and regional brain volumes using correlations. We hypothesized a positive relationship between the volume of the right cerebellum and known white matter output pathways, as well as with the volume of structures that receive cerebellar projections along the pathway. METHODS: Adult survivors of childhood brain tumors were recruited (n = 29; age, M = 22 years, SD = 5; 45% female). Age- and gender-matched controls were also included (n = 29). Participants completed 3 T diffusion-weighted and T1 MPRAGE MRI scans. Brain structure volume relative to intracranial vault served as regional volumetric measures. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD) served as WMI measures. In the survivor group, partial correlations between WMI and regional volume included controlling for disease severity. RESULTS: In posterior fossa tumor survivors, the volumes of the cerebellum, thalamus, and frontal lobe were correlated with WMI of the thalamic-frontal segment of the cerebellar-frontal pathway (r = 0.41–0.49, p < .05). Cerebellar atrophy was correlated with reduced WMI in the cerebellar-rubral segment (FA, r = −0.32 p > .05; RD, r = 0.53, p < .01). In the no-radiation survivor group, the regional volume of each structure along the pathway was associated with WMI in the cerebellar-rubral segment. In the radiation survivor group, significant correlations were found between the regional brain volume of each structure and the thalamic-frontal segment of the pathway. DISCUSSION: The results of this multimodal neuroimaging study provide correlational evidence that the mechanism of injury subsequent to brain tumor treatment may be different depending on type of treatment(s). Without radiation, the primary mechanism of injury is cerebellar tumor growth, resection, and hydrocephalus. Therefore, the most proximal connection to that injury (cerebellar-rubral pathway) was correlated with reductions in volume along the pathway. In contrast, the survivor group treated with radiation may have had possible radiation-induced demyelination of the thalamic-frontal portion of the pathway, based on a strong correlation with volume loss in the cerebellum, red nucleus, thalamus, and frontal lobe. Elsevier 2019-06-10 /pmc/articles/PMC6593203/ /pubmed/31229941 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101894 Text en © 2019 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Regular Article
Ailion, Alyssa S.
Roberts, Simone Renée
Crosson, Bruce
King, Tricia Z.
Neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors
title Neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors
title_full Neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors
title_fullStr Neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors
title_full_unstemmed Neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors
title_short Neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors
title_sort neuroimaging of the component white matter connections and structures within the cerebellar-frontal pathway in posterior fossa tumor survivors
topic Regular Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6593203/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31229941
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101894
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