In order to test the hypothesis that in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), an important cause of irreversible blindness, a spreading of neurodegeneration occurs through the brain, we performed multimodal MRI and subsequent whole-brain explorative voxelwise analyses in 13 advanced POAG patients and 12 age-matched normal controls (NC). Altered integrity (decreased fractional anisotropy or increased diffusivities) of white matter (WM) tracts was found not only along the visual pathway of POAG but also in nonvisual WM tracts (superior longitudinal fascicle, anterior thalamic radiation, corticospinal tract, middle cerebellar peduncle). POAG patients also showed brain atrophy in both visual cortex and other distant grey matter (GM) regions (frontoparietal cortex, hippocampi and cerebellar cortex), decreased functional connectivity (FC) in visual, working memory and dorsal attention networks and increased FC in visual and executive networks. In POAG, abnormalities in structure and FC within and outside visual system correlated with visual field parameters in the poorer performing eyes, thus emphasizing their clinical relevance. Altogether, this represents evidence that a vision disorder such as POAG can be considered a widespread neurodegenerative condition. © 2014 Frezzotti et al.

Frezzotti, P., Giorgio, A., Motolese, I., De Leucio, A., Iester, M., Motolese, E., et al. (2014). Structural and functional brain changes beyond visual system in patients with advanced glaucoma. PLOS ONE, 9(8), 1-11 [10.1371/journal.pone.0105931].

Structural and functional brain changes beyond visual system in patients with advanced glaucoma

Frezzotti, Paolo;Giorgio, Antonio;Motolese, Ilaria;De Leucio, Alessandro;Motolese, Eduardo;Federico, Antonio;De Stefano, Nicola
2014-01-01

Abstract

In order to test the hypothesis that in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), an important cause of irreversible blindness, a spreading of neurodegeneration occurs through the brain, we performed multimodal MRI and subsequent whole-brain explorative voxelwise analyses in 13 advanced POAG patients and 12 age-matched normal controls (NC). Altered integrity (decreased fractional anisotropy or increased diffusivities) of white matter (WM) tracts was found not only along the visual pathway of POAG but also in nonvisual WM tracts (superior longitudinal fascicle, anterior thalamic radiation, corticospinal tract, middle cerebellar peduncle). POAG patients also showed brain atrophy in both visual cortex and other distant grey matter (GM) regions (frontoparietal cortex, hippocampi and cerebellar cortex), decreased functional connectivity (FC) in visual, working memory and dorsal attention networks and increased FC in visual and executive networks. In POAG, abnormalities in structure and FC within and outside visual system correlated with visual field parameters in the poorer performing eyes, thus emphasizing their clinical relevance. Altogether, this represents evidence that a vision disorder such as POAG can be considered a widespread neurodegenerative condition. © 2014 Frezzotti et al.
2014
Frezzotti, P., Giorgio, A., Motolese, I., De Leucio, A., Iester, M., Motolese, E., et al. (2014). Structural and functional brain changes beyond visual system in patients with advanced glaucoma. PLOS ONE, 9(8), 1-11 [10.1371/journal.pone.0105931].
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
36.2014 PLos one.pdf

accesso aperto

Descrizione: Articolo
Tipologia: PDF editoriale
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 4.89 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
4.89 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11365/999760
 Attenzione

Attenzione! I dati visualizzati non sono stati sottoposti a validazione da parte dell'ateneo