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. 2009 Aug;30(8):2667-75.
doi: 10.1002/hbm.20698.

Volume and iron content in basal ganglia and thalamus

Patrice Péran  1 , Andrea Cherubini, Giacomo Luccichenti, Gisela Hagberg, Jean-François Démonet, Olivier Rascol, Pierre Celsis, Carlo Caltagirone, Gianfranco Spalletta, Umberto Sabatini
Affiliations

Volume and iron content in basal ganglia and thalamus

Patrice Péran et al. Hum Brain Mapp. 2009 Aug.

Abstract

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have highlighted the possibility to investigate brain iron content in vivo. In this study, we combined T2* relaxometry and automatic segmentation of basal ganglia based on T1-weighted images in healthy subjects, with the aim of characterizing age related changes in volume and iron-related relaxivity values (R2*) of these structures. Thirty healthy subjects underwent MR imaging at 3 Tesla. Mean R2* values and volumes were calculated for the selected subcortical structures (pallidum, putamen, thalamus and caudate nucleus). Our results showed a correlation between R2* values and iron concentration as calculated from published post-mortem data. Furthermore, we observed a shrinkage/iron increase with a different pattern in the anatomical regions selected in this work, suggesting that the age-related changes on these MR parameters are specific to the subcortical structure considered. In particular, the putamen demonstrated a decrease of volume and an increase of iron level, with the posterior region of this structure appearing more disposed to iron deposition. Our work suggests that combining volumetry and iron estimation in MRI permits to investigate in vivo neurophysiological and neuropathological changes of basal ganglia.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlation between iron concentration derived from published post‐mortem data [Hallgren and Sourander,1958] in function of age and R2* mean values of each entire subcortical structure for each participant. The values plotted on the Y axis are a direct MR measure (R2*), the values plotted on the X axis represent an indirect estimation of iron concentration in the basal ganglia obtained from the age of the subject. In the top left corner, 3D reconstruction based on T1‐weighted images of subcortical regions considered in this work. CN (blue): caudate nucleus ; Pu (red): putamen; GP (green): Globus pallidus.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Volumes (top) and R2* mean values (bottom) of subcortical structures considered in this work. From left to right: right and left thalamus, right and left putamen, right and left caudate nucleus, right and left globus pallidus.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results of R2* voxel‐based analysis. The blue‐green scale corresponds to the probabilistic map of subcortical structures. In red, regions for which non parametric significant correlations (P < 0.05; FWE corrected) have been found between R2* values and age.
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