Facial Nerve Tractography Using Diffusion MRI: A Comparison of Acquisition b-Values and Single- and Multifiber Tracking Strategies.
Lorenz EpprechtLeo ZekelmanKatherine L ReinshagenGuoqiang XieIsaiah NortonRon KikinisNikos MakrisMarco PiccirelliAlexander HuberDaniel J LeeFan ZhangLauren J O'DonnellPublished in: Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology (2024)
In this young and healthy cohort, best tractography results are obtained by using a 1T model without a FW compartment in b =1,000 diffusion MR images. The FW compartment increased the contrast between streamlines and cerebrospinal fluid (higher mean streamline FA). This finding may help ongoing research to improve CN VII tractography results in tumor cases where the nerve is often stretched and thinned by the tumor.