| Budget Amount *help |
¥4,810,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,110,000)
Fiscal Year 2017: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
Fiscal Year 2016: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000)
|
|---|
| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
The symptoms of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) can be improved by shunt surgery, but prediction of treatment outcome is not established. We investigated changes of the corticospinal tract (CST) in iNPH before and after shunt surgery using diffusion microstructural imaging. The orientational coherence within the CSTs was higher in patients than in controls, and some normalization occurred after the surgery in patients indicating recovery from axon stretching. The estimated axon density was lower in patients than in controls but remained unchanged after the surgery, suggesting its potential as a marker for irreversible neuronal damage. Thus, diffusion MRI may distinguish between reversible and irreversible microstructural changes in iNPH. Our findings constitute a step towards a quantitative image biomarker that reflects pathological process and treatment outcomes of iNPH.
|
