Longitudinal assessment of subcortical gray matter volume, cortical thickness, and white matter integrity in HIV-positive patients

• Published in: Journal of magnetic resonance imaging Vol. 44; no. 5; pp. 1262 - 1269
• Main Authors: Corrêa, Diogo Goulart, Zimmermann, Nicolle, Tukamoto, Gustavo, Doring, Thomas, Ventura, Nina, Leite, Sarah C.B., Cabral, Rafael Ferracini, Fonseca, Rochele Paz, Bahia, Paulo R.V., Gasparetto, Emerson Leandro
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Abnormalities; Adult; Anisotropy; Antiretroviral agents; Antiretroviral drugs; Antiretroviral Therapy, Highly Active - methods; CD4 antigen; Cortex; cortical thickness; Dementia disorders; diffusion tensor imaging; Diffusion Tensor Imaging - methods; Diffusivity; Dimensional measurement; Encephalitis, Viral - drug therapy; Encephalitis, Viral - immunology; Encephalitis, Viral - pathology; Female; Gray Matter - immunology; Gray Matter - pathology; Highly active antiretroviral therapy; HIV; HIV Infections - drug therapy; HIV Infections - immunology; HIV Infections - pathology; HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders; Human immunodeficiency virus; Humans; Image processing; Image segmentation; Integrity; Lentivirus; longitudinal follow-up; Longitudinal Studies; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetization; Male; Middle Aged; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Organ Size - immunology; Patients; Permutations; Reconstruction; Resonance; Retroviridae; Spatial analysis; Statistical analysis; Substantia alba; Substantia grisea; Therapy; Thickness; Treatment Outcome; Viral Load - immunology; White Matter - immunology; White Matter - pathology; diffusion tensor imaging; longitudinal follow-up; HIV; cortical thickness; HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders
• ISSN: 1053-1807; 1522-2586; 1522-2586
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.25263

Purpose To longitudinally evaluate the cortical thickness and deep gray matter structures volume, measured from T1 three‐dimensional (3D) Gradient echo‐weighted imaging, and white matter integrity, assessed from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of HIV‐positive patients. Materials and Methods Twenty‐one HIV‐positive patients on stable highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with CD4+ T lymphocytes count >200 cells/mL and viral load <50 copies/mL underwent two magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans with a median interval of 26.6 months. None of the patients had HIV‐related dementia. T1 3D magnetization prepared rapid gradient echo‐weighted imaging and DTI along 30 noncolinear directions were performed using a 1.5 Tesla MR scanner. FreeSurfer was used to perform cortical volumetric reconstruction and segmentation of deep gray matter structures. For tract‐based spatial statistics analysis, a white matter skeleton was created, and a permutation‐based inference with 5000 permutations, with a threshold of P < 0.05 was used to identify abnormalities in fractional anisotropy (FA). The median, radial, and axial diffusivities were also projected onto the mean FA skeleton. Results There were no significant differences in cortical thickness, deep gray matter structures volumes or diffusivity parameters between scans at the two time points (considering P < 0.05). Conclusion No longitudinal differences in cortical thickness, deep gray matter volumes, or white matter integrity were observed in an HIV‐positive population on stable HAART, with undetectable viral load and high CD4+ T lymphocytes count. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2016;44:1262–1269.