Early Stage Markers of Late Delayed Neurocognitive Decline Using Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging of Temporal Lobe in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Patients

Purpose: To determine whether the early assessment of temporal lobe microstructural changes using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) can predict late delayed neurocognitive decline after radiotherapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Methods and Materials: Fifty-four NPC patients undergoing intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) participated in a prospective DKI magnetic resonance (MR) imaging study. MR imaging was acquired prior to IMRT (-0), 1 month (-1), and 3 (-3) months after IMRT. Kurtosis (Kmean, Kax, Krad) and Diffusivity (Dmean, Dax, Drad) variables in the temporal lobe gray and white matter were computed. Neurocognitive function tests (MoCA) were administered pre-radiotherapy and at 2 years post-IMRT follow-up. All the patients were divided into neurocognitive function decline (NFD group) and neurocognitive function non-decline groups (NFND group) according to whether the MoCA score declined >= 3 2 years after IMRT. All the DKI metrics were compared between the two groups, and the best imaging marker was chosen for predicting a late delayed neurocognitive decline. Results: Kurtosis (Kmean-1, Kmean-3, Kax-1, Kax-3, Krad-1, and Krad-3) and Diffusivity (Dmean-1 and Dmean-3) of white matter were significantly different between the two groups (p<0.05). Axial Kurtosis (Kax-1, Kax-3) of gray matter was significantly different between the two groups (p<0.05). By receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, Kmean-1 of white matter performed best in predicting of MoCA scores delayed decline (p<0.05). The radiation dose was also significantly different between NFD and NFND group (p=0.031). Conclusions: Temporal lobe white matter is more vulnerable to microstructural changes and injury following IMRT in NPC. Metrics derived from DKI should be considered as imaging markers for predicting a late delayed neurocognitive decline. Both temporal lobe white and gray matter show microstructural changes detectable by DKI. The Kmean early after radiotherapy has the best prediction performance.