Correlation of Fractional Anisotropy with Motor Recovery in Stroke Patients following Post-Acute Rehabilitation

Publication date: Available online 11 May 2016
Source:Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Author(s): Hongmei Wen, Mohamad J. Alshikho, Yao Wang, Xun Luo, Ross Zafonte, Martha R. Herbert, Qing Mei Wang
ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between fractional anisotropy (FA), a suggested biomarker for tissue integrity, and motor recovery in stroke patients following post-acute rehabilitation.DesignRetrospective study.SettingAcute rehabilitation hospital.Participants43 subjects, 28 diagnosed with ischemic stroke, and 15 diagnosed with hemorrhagic stroke. The average age for subjects was (68±14 years).InterventionsMRI and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) were conducted on all patients.Main Outcome Measure(s)This is a retrospective study. The admission and discharge motor sub-scores of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) were obtained from medical records, and relative gain was calculated using the Montebello Rehabilitation Factor Score (MRFS). K-means cluster analysis (K=3) using both MRFS and gain of FIM motor sub-score (ΔFIM) was performed. ANOVA test was used to determine the difference in FA among the clusters. Spearman analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between FA, ΔFIM, and MRFS in each cluster.ResultsFA was significantly higher in the clusters of good and moderate recovery in the corticospinal tract (CST), peduncle, and posterior limb of the internal capsule (PLIC) bilaterally (all P<0.05) compared to the poor recovery group. Significant positive correlations were observed in multiple regions along CST between FA, ΔFIM, and MRFS in the clusters of good and moderate recovery, but not in the poor recovery group.ConclusionOur results showed an association between FA values within the corticospinal tract and motor recovery in stroke patients undergoing post-acute rehabilitation. This finding may help to identify novel targets for new interventions to promote stroke recovery.



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