Quantitative susceptibility-weighted imaging in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis with 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate alterations in phase-shift values in the gray matter of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) using susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI). METHODS: Twenty patients with definite or probable ALS and 19 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. SWI was performed using a 3.0 T magnetic resonance imaging scanner. Phase-shift values were measured in corrected phase images using regions of interest, which were placed on the bilateral precentral gyrus, frontal cortex, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, and putamen. RESULTS: Phase-shift values of the precentral gyrus were significantly lower in ALS patients (−0.176 ± 0.050) than in the control group (−0.119 ± 0.016) on SWI. The average phase-shift values of the frontal cortex, caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, and putamen in ALS patients (−0.089 ± 0.023, −0.065 ± 0.016, −0.336 ± 0.191, and −0.227 ± 0.101, respectively) were not significantly different from those in the healthy controls (−0.885 ± 0.015, −0.079 ± 0.018, −0.329 ± 0.136, and −0.229 ± 0.083, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Compared with healthy controls, ALS patients had a lower phase-shift value in the precentral gyrus, which may be related to abnormal iron overload. Thus, SWI is a potential method for identifying ALS patients.