| 1. |
- Akram, Harith, et al.
(författare)
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Connectivity derived thalamic segmentation in deep brain stimulation for tremor
- 2018
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Ingår i: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier. - 2213-1582. ; 18, s. 130-142
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus is an established surgical target for stereotactic ablation and deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of tremor in Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET). It is centrally placed on a cerebello-thalamo-cortical network connecting the primary motor cortex, to the dentate nucleus of the contralateral cerebellum through the dentato-rubro-thalamic tract (DRT). The VIM is not readily visible on conventional MR imaging, so identifying the surgical target traditionally involved indirect targeting that relies on atlas-defined coordinates. Unfortunately, this approach does not fully account for individual variability and requires surgery to be performed with the patient awake to allow for intraoperative targeting confirmation. The aim of this study is to identify the VIM and the DRT using probabilistic tractography in patients that will undergo thalamic DBS for tremor. Four male patients with tremor dominant PD and five patients (three female) with ET underwent high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) (128 diffusion directions, 1.5 mm isotropic voxels and b value = 1500) preoperatively. Patients received VIM-DBS using an MR image guided and MR image verified approach with indirect targeting. Postoperatively, using parallel Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) processing, thalamic areas with the highest diffusion connectivity to the primary motor area (M1), supplementary motor area (SMA), primary sensory area (S1) and contralateral dentate nucleus were identified. Additionally, volume of tissue activation (VTA) corresponding to active DBS contacts were modelled. Response to treatment was defined as 40% reduction in the total Fahn-Tolosa-Martin Tremor Rating Score (FTMTRS) with DBS-ON, one year from surgery. Three out of nine patients had a suboptimal, long-term response to treatment. The segmented thalamic areas corresponded well to anatomically known counterparts in the ventrolateral (VL) and ventroposterior (VP) thalamus. The dentate-thalamic area, lay within the M1-thalamic area in a ventral and lateral location. Streamlines corresponding to the DRT connected M1 to the contralateral dentate nucleus via the dentate-thalamic area, clearly crossing the midline in the mesencephalon. Good response was seen when the active contact VTA was in the thalamic area with highest connectivity to the contralateral dentate nucleus. Non-responders had active contact VTAs outside the dentate-thalamic area. We conclude that probabilistic tractography techniques can be used to segment the VL and VP thalamus based on cortical and cerebellar connectivity. The thalamic area, best representing the VIM, is connected to the contralateral dentate cerebellar nucleus. Connectivity based segmentation of the VIM can be achieved in individual patients in a clinically feasible timescale, using HARDI and high performance computing with parallel GPU processing. This same technique can map out the DRT tract with clear mesencephalic crossing.
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| 2. |
- Akram, Harith, et al.
(författare)
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L-Dopa Responsiveness Is Associated With Distinctive Connectivity Patterns in Advanced Parkinson's Disease
- 2017
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Ingår i: Movement Disorders. - : Wiley-Blackwell. - 0885-3185 .- 1531-8257. ; 32:6, s. 874-883
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Neuronal loss and dopamine depletion alter motor signal processing between cortical motor areas, basal ganglia, and the thalamus, resulting in the motor manifestations of Parkinson's disease. Dopamine replacement therapy can reverse these manifestations with varying degrees of improvement. Methods: To evaluate functional connectivity in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease and changes in functional connectivity in relation to the degree of response to L-dopa, 19 patients with advanced Parkinson's disease underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging in the on-medication state. Scans were obtained on a 3-Tesla scanner in 3x3x2.5mm(3) voxels. Seed-based bivariate regression analyses were carried out with atlas-defined basal ganglia regions as seeds, to explore relationships between functional connectivity and improvement in the motor section of the UPDRS-III following an L-dopa challenge. False discovery rate-corrected P was set at < 0.05 for a 2-tailed t test. Results: A greater improvement in UPDRS-III scores following L-dopa administration was characterized by higher resting-state functional connectivity between the prefrontal cortex and the striatum (P=0.001) and lower resting-state functional connectivity between the pallidum (P=0.001), subthalamic nucleus (P=0.003), and the paracentral lobule (supplementary motor area, mesial primary motor, and primary sensory areas). Conclusions: Our findings show characteristic basal ganglia resting-state functional connectivity patterns associated with different degrees of L-dopa responsiveness in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease. L-Dopa exerts a graduated influence on remapping connectivity in distinct motor control networks, potentially explaining some of the variance in treatment response.
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| 3. |
- Akram, Harith, et al.
(författare)
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Subthalamic deep brain stimulation sweet spots and hyperdirect cortical connectivity in Parkinson's disease
- 2017
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Ingår i: NeuroImage. - : Elsevier. - 1053-8119 .- 1095-9572. ; 158, s. 332-345
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Firstly, to identify subthalamic region stimulation clusters that predict maximum improvement in rigidity, bradykinesia and tremor, or emergence of side-effects; and secondly, to map-out the cortical fingerprint, mediated by the hyperdirect pathways which predict maximum efficacy.Methods: High angular resolution diffusion imaging in twenty patients with advanced Parkinson's disease was acquired prior to bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation. All contacts were screened one-year from surgery for efficacy and side-effects at different amplitudes. Voxel-based statistical analysis of volumes of tissue activated models was used to identify significant treatment clusters. Probabilistic tractography was employed to identify cortical connectivity patterns associated with treatment efficacy.Results: All patients responded well to treatment (46% mean improvement off medication UPDRS-III [p < 0.0001]) without significant adverse events. Cluster corresponding to maximum improvement in tremor was in the posterior, superior and lateral portion of the nucleus. Clusters corresponding to improvement in bradykinesia and rigidity were nearer the superior border in a further medial and posterior location. The rigidity cluster extended beyond the superior border to the area of the zona incerta and Forel-H-2 field. When the clusters where averaged, the coordinates of the area with maximum overall efficacy was X = -10(-9.5), Y = -3(-1) and Z = -7(-3) in MNI(AC-PC) space. Cortical connectivity to primary motor area was predictive of higher improvement in tremor; whilst that to supplementary motor area was predictive of improvement in bradykinesia and rigidity; and connectivity to prefrontal cortex was predictive of improvement in rigidity.Interpretation: These findings support the presence of overlapping stimulation sites within the subthalamic nucleus and its superior border, with different cortical connectivity patterns, associated with maximum improvement in tremor, rigidity and bradykinesia.
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| 4. |
- Ou, Zhen-Yi Andy, et al.
(författare)
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Brain-derived neurotrophic factor in cerebrospinal fluid and plasma is not a biomarker for Huntington's disease.
- 2021
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Ingår i: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 11:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is implicated in the survival of striatal neurons. BDNF function is reduced in Huntington's disease (HD), possibly because mutant huntingtin impairs its cortico-striatal transport, contributing to striatal neurodegeneration. The BDNF trophic pathway is a therapeutic target, and blood BDNF has been suggested as a potential biomarker for HD, but BDNF has not been quantified in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in HD. We quantified BDNF in CSF and plasma in the HD-CSF cohort (20 pre-manifest and 40 manifest HD mutation carriers and 20 age and gender-matched controls) using conventional ELISAs and an ultra-sensitive immunoassay. BDNF concentration was below the limit of detection of the conventional ELISAs, raising doubt about previous CSF reports in neurodegeneration. Using the ultra-sensitive method, BDNF concentration was quantifiable in all samples but did not differ between controls and HD mutation carriers in CSF or plasma, was not associated with clinical scores or MRI brain volumetric measures, and had poor ability to discriminate controls from HD mutation carriers, and premanifest from manifest HD. We conclude that BDNF in CSF and plasma is unlikely to be a biomarker of HD progression and urge caution in interpreting studies where conventional ELISA was used to quantify CSF BDNF.
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