Effects of ischemic stroke on cerebral tissue microenvironment using diffusional kurtosis imaging

Abstract

Conventional diffusion MRI is very sensitive to ischemic injury as compared to other imaging modalities. However, the presence of cerebral spinal fluid may cause overestimation of the diffusivity, particularly in gray matter regions. It is therefore necessary to find an alternative technique that is more sensitive and specific to the microenvironment in neural tissues. Diffusional kurtosis imaging which measures non-Gaussianity of water diffusion is a potential candidate. Apparent diffusional kurtosis measures tissue complexity due to the presence of cell membranes and organelles. The goal of this study was therefore to investigate diffusional kurtosis change under acute/subacute ischemic stroke.