The effects of P2 segment of posterior cerebral artery to thalamus blood supply pattern on gait in cerebral small vessel disease: A 7  T MRI based study

Neurobiol Dis. 2023 Dec 5:106372. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106372. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTGait disturbance is a manifestation of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD). The posterolateral thalamus (PL), whose blood is mainly supplied by the P2 segment of posterior cerebral artery (P2-PCA), plays pivotal roles in gait regulation. We investigated the influence of the distance between P2-PCA and PL on gait with varying CSVD burden. 71 participants were divided into low and high CSVD burden groups. The distance from P2-PCA to PL was measured using 7 T TOF-MRA and categorized into an immediate or distant PCA-to-thalamus pattern. Functional connectivity (FC) and voxel-based morphometry were assessed to evaluate functional and structural alterations. In the low CSVD burden group, immediate PCA-to-thalamus supply strongly correlates with longer step length and higher wave phase time percent, and exhibited enhanced FCs in left supplementary motor area, right precentral cortex (PreCG.R). While in the high CSVD burden group, no association between PCA-to-thalamus pattern and gait was found, and we observed reduced FC in PreCG.R with immediate PCA-to-thalamus pattern. Higher CSVD burden was associated with decreased gray matter density in bilateral thalamus. However, no significant structural thalamic change was observed between the two types of PCA-to-thalamus patterns in all patients. Our study demonstrated patients with immediate PCA-to-thalamus supply exhibited better gait perfor...

Source: Neurobiology of Disease - December 7, 2023 Category: Neurology Authors: Cen Guo Bei Wang Yajing Huo Lili Shan Tianci Qiao Zidong Yang Mingyuan Liu Yilin Wang Guanshu Liu Yajie Liu He Wang Yan Han Source Type: research