White matter structural changes before and after microvascular decompression for hemifacial spasm.
Brain Struct Funct
; 229(4): 959-970, 2024 May.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38502329
ABSTRACT
Hemifacial spasm (HFS) is a syndrome characterized by involuntary contractions of the facial muscles innervated by the ipsilateral facial nerve. Currently, microvascular decompression (MVD) is an effective treatment for HFS. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) is a non-invasive advanced magnetic resonance technique that allows us to reconstruct white matter (WM) virtually based on water diffusion direction. This enables us to model the human brain as a complex network using graph theory. In our study, we recruited 32 patients with HFS and 32 healthy controls to analyze and compare the topological organization of whole-brain white matter networks between the groups. We also explored the potential relationships between altered topological properties and clinical outcomes. Compared to the HC group, the white matter network was disrupted in both preoperative and postoperative groups of HFS patients, mainly located in the somatomotor network, limbic network, and default network (All P < 0.05, FDR corrected). There was no significant difference between the preoperative and postoperative groups (P > 0.05, FDR corrected). There was a correlation between the altered topological properties and clinical outcomes in the postoperative group of patients (All P < 0.05, FDR corrected). Our findings indicate that in HFS, the white matter structural network was disrupted before and after MVD, and that these alterations in the postoperative group were correlated with the clinical outcomes. White matter alteration here described may subserve as potential biomarkers for HFS and may help us identify patients with HFS who can benefit from MVD and thus can help us make a proper surgical patient selection.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Hemifacial Spasm
/
Microvascular Decompression Surgery
/
White Matter
Limits:
Humans
Language:
En
Journal:
Brain Struct Funct
Journal subject:
CEREBRO
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
China