Tract-based white matter hyperintensity patterns in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus using an unsupervised machine learning approach.
Sci Rep
; 12(1): 21376, 2022 12 09.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36494508
ABSTRACT
Currently, little is known about the spatial distribution of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in the brain of patients with Systemic Lupus erythematosus (SLE). Previous lesion markers, such as number and volume, ignore the strategic location of WMH. The goal of this work was to develop a fully-automated method to identify predominant patterns of WMH across WM tracts based on cluster analysis. A total of 221 SLE patients with and without neuropsychiatric symptoms from two different sites were included in this study. WMH segmentations and lesion locations were acquired automatically. Cluster analysis was performed on the WMH distribution in 20 WM tracts. Our pipeline identified five distinct clusters with predominant involvement of the forceps major, forceps minor, as well as right and left anterior thalamic radiations and the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus. The patterns of the affected WM tracts were consistent over the SLE subtypes and sites. Our approach revealed distinct and robust tract-based WMH patterns within SLE patients. This method could provide a basis, to link the location of WMH with clinical symptoms. Furthermore, it could be used for other diseases characterized by presence of WMH to investigate both the clinical relevance of WMH and underlying pathomechanism in the brain.
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Base de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Sustancia Blanca
/
Lupus Eritematoso Sistémico
Límite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Sci Rep
Año:
2022
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Suecia