Abnormal Baseline Brain Activity in Neuromyelitis Optica Patients Without Brain Lesion Detected by Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the baseline brain activity in neuromyelitis optica patients without brain lesion using the regional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) as indexes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-two patients of NMO with normal performance in conventional MRI and 42 healthy controls, matched in gender and age, were enrolled in this study. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) data acquired using the rs-fMRI Data Analysis Toolkit. The relationships between expanded disability states scale (EDSS) scores, abnormal baseline brain activity and disease duration were explored. RESULTS: The left inferior temporal, left cerebellum_4_5, bilateral superior temporal pole, left caudate, right superior temporal, left middle frontal and left superior occipital showed significantly increased ALFF in the NMO. Regions of abnormal fALFF were similar to those of ALFF except that increased fALFF were also indicated in the right cerebellum crus2, right hippocampus, left parahippocampal gyrus and left supplementary motor area. Furthermore, a significant correlation between EDSS scores and ALFF/fALFF was noted in the left inferior temporal gyrus. CONCLUSION: Results confirmed the disturbances in NMO-related neural networks, which probably be related to spinal cord damage.