Diffusion Tensor Imaging Of White Matter In Sensorineural Hearing Loss Children With Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate microstructure changes in the auditory pathway and non-auditory regions of sensorineural hearing loss(SNHL)children with Enlarged vestibular aqueduct(EVA)by using diffusion tensor imaging(DTI).Methods: 61 children were included in this study.The participants were divided into three groups.19 children in group A were diagnosed with SNHL with EVA.22 children in group B were diagnosed with SNHL with a normal inner ear.20 children in group C had normal hearing(NH)as control group.Regions of interest included white matter of superior temporal gyrus,white matter of Heschl's gyrus,auditory radiation and inferior colliculus in auditory pathway and anterior limb of the internal capsule,posterior limb of the internal capsule,genu of the corpus callosum,splenium of the corpus callosum,anterior cingulate gyrus,middle cingulate gyrus and posterior cingulate gyrus in non-auditory regions.Fractional anisotropy(FA)were compared between three groups.Results: The FA value in some auditory regions,include the left and right inferior colliculus,white matter of left Heschl's gyrus and right auditory radiation,of SNHL children with EVA was reduced compared with SNHL children with a normal inner ear(P?0.05).The FA value in middle cingulate gyrus of SNHL children(group A and group B)was reduced compare with normal children(P?0.05);there is no difference of FA value in middle cingulate gyrus between SNHL children with EVA and SNHL children with a normal inner ear(P?0.05).Conclusion: SNHL children with EVA had a lower FA value in auditory pathway than SNHL children with a normal inner ear,which suggested a developmental delay in myelination.SNLH children had a lower FA value in middle cingulate gyrus,which suggested that SNLH children might do worse in cognition compared with normal hearing children.