To study the microstructural damage characteristics of the nerve nuclei and cingulate cortex in the brain of the patients with liver qi stagnation using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging(DTI)technique.Methods:A total of 16 patients with liver qi stagnation syndrome clinically confirmed by Dongfang Hospital,Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from May 2012 to May 2015 were selected.Meanwhile,13 normal controls were selected.These subjects were performed by magnetic resonance DTI scanning.After raw data processing,the map of fractional anisotropy(FA)and apparent diffusion coefficient(ADC)were calculated.The FA and ADC values were measured in the bilateral hippocampus,amygdala,thalamus,lentiform nucleus,caudate nucleus and cingulate cortex.Region of interest(ROI)was set at the same brain region.The FA and ADC value of 2 groups were analyzed statistically.Results:The FA values of the right thalamus and bilateral middle cingulate cortex in the disease were significantly higher than that of the control group(P=0.043,0.004,0.043).The FA value of the left lentiform nucleus was lower than that of the control group significantly(P=0.033).The ADC value of the left anterior cingulate cortex(ACC)and bilateral posterior cingulate cortex(PCC)were significantly lower than that of the control group(P=0.019,0.039,0.049).The FA value of the right middle cingulate cortex was taken as the biomarker,ROC analysis showed the area under the curve(AUC=0.87,P=0.001),the best diagnostic value FA value was 0.383750,sensitivity 92.3%,and the specificity 68.7%.Conclusion:By the DTI analysis of the deep brain nuclei and cingulate cortex of the patients with liver qi stagnation syndrome,we found that the injury of the patient's deep brain nerve nuclei and cingulate cortex exists in specific brain regions.The FA value of the right middle cingulate cortex played an important role for syndrome differentiation. |