Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Neurosci.
Sec. Brain Imaging Methods
Volume 18 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1473462
This article is part of the Research Topic Methods and Applications of Diffusion MRI Tractometry View all 13 articles

Diffusion tensor imaging in cerebral small vessel disease Applications: Opportunities and Challenges

Provisionally accepted
Siyu Yang Siyu Yang 1Yihao Zhou Yihao Zhou 1Feng Wang Feng Wang 2*Xuesong He Xuesong He 3*Xuan Cui Xuan Cui 2*Shaojie Cai Shaojie Cai 3Xingyan Zhu Xingyan Zhu 1*Dongyan Wang Dongyan Wang 1,3*
  • 1 Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
  • 2 First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
  • 3 Second Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a syndrome of pathology, imaging, and clinical manifestations caused primarily by a variety of functional or structural lesions in the small blood vessels of the brain. CSVD contributes to approximately 45% of dementia and 25% of ischemic strokes worldwide and is one of the most important causes of disability. The disease progresses insidiously, and patients often have no typical symptoms in the early stages, but have an increased risk of stroke, death, and poor long-term prognosis. Therefore, early diagnosis of CSVD is particularly important.Neuroimaging is the most important diagnostic tool used for CSVD. Therefore, it is important to explore the imaging mechanisms of CSVD for its early diagnosis and precise treatment. In this article, we review the principles and analysis methods of DTI, analyze the latest DTI studies on CSVD, clarify the disease-lesion mapping relationships between cerebral white matter (WM) microstructural damage and CSVD, explore the pathogenic mechanisms and preclinical imaging features of CSVD, and summarize the latest research directions of CSVD and research methods to provide a comprehensive and objective imaging basis for the diagnosis and treatment of CSVD.

    Keywords: DTI, CSVd, DKI, Glymphatic system, Preclinical imaging features

    Received: 31 Jul 2024; Accepted: 07 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yang, Zhou, Wang, He, Cui, Cai, Zhu and Wang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Feng Wang, First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
    Xuesong He, Second Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
    Xuan Cui, First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
    Xingyan Zhu, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
    Dongyan Wang, Second Affiliated Hospital, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.