Corticospinal Tract Alteration is Associated with Motor Performance in Subacute Basal Ganglia Stroke

Microstructural changes of corticospinal tract (CST) correlate with motor performance in ischemic stroke patients. However, the findings about CST structural alteration after stroke varied due to different lesion sites, recovery degree and different disrupted pathways. Basal ganglia (BG) plays an important role in motor control and execution. Despite the intimate anatomical relation between BG and CST, the impact of BG stroke lesion on CST integrity and its association with motor performance remains unclear. In this study, we recruited 10 stroke patients with lesion specifically in BG area and investigate the CST structural alteration 1-3 months post stroke using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) methodology. The bilateral cerebral peduncle (CP), posterior limb of internal capsule (PLIC) and superior cornal radiation (sCR) areas were investigated and the regional DTI parameters were calculated. Our results showed a significant decline of ipsileional FA in CP, PLIC and sCR, which is in correlation with patient's concurrent Fugl-Meyer index (FMI) score. Moreover, the lateralization of FA in CP and PLIC negatively correlated with FMI. Our work showed that the CST structural alteration associated with motor function of BG stroke patients within subacute stage. The FA value and its lateralization served as informative markers for motor performance evaluation.