Study on MR-diffusion tensor imaging in preoperative diagnosis of hippocampal sclerosis

Objective To investigate the diffusion characteristics of hippocampi in patients with hippocampal sclerosis and to study the value of diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)in preoperative diagnosis of hippocampal sclerosis.Methods Eight pa- tients of unilateral hippocampal sclerosis and 32 healthy volunteers underwent conventional and DTI scanning.The DCavg, FA,1-VR and RA of bilateral hippocampi were measured respectively.Results No significant differences of DCavg,FA, 1-VR and RA were noted between right and left hippocampi in the control.The DCavg of ipsilateral hippoeampi was higher than that of contralateral side and the control.The FA of ipsilateral hippocampi was lower than that of contralateral side and the control.The 1-VR and RA of ipsilateral hippocampi were higher than that of the control,but no significant differ- ences of 1-VR and RA were noted between ipsilateral side and contralateral side.Conclusion DTI is a valuable technique and the increased DCavg,decreased FA can be used as useful indexes of lateralizing the epileptogenic lesion in patients with hippocampal sclerosis before operation.