Intravoxel incoherent motion to assess brain microstructure and perfusion in patients with end‐stage renal disease

Abstract Background and Purpose This study aimed to investigate the clinical value of intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion‐weighted imaging in evaluating the brain microstructure and perfusion changes in end‐stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Methods The routine head MRI sequences and IVIM were performed on 40 ESRD patients and 30 healthy subjects. The IVIM was executed with 10 b ‐values varying from 0 to 1000 seconds/mm 2 . All subjects were evaluated on neuropsychological test. Laboratory tests were conducted for ESRD patients. Results Compared with the control group, increased slow apparent diffusion coefficient values (ADC slow ) were found in the left frontal lobe, hippocampus, bilateral temporal lobe, and the right occipital lobe ( p < .05), and increased fast ADC values (ADC fast ) were found in all regions of interest (all p < .001) in ESRD patients. In ESRD patients, ADC fast in right frontal lobe ( p = .041) and insular lobe ( p = .045) was negatively correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment score (MoCA), and ADC fast in the right parietal lobe ( p = .009) and hippocampus ( p = .041) had positive correlation with hemoglobin levels. Using receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis, ADC fast in the right frontal lobe, insular lobe, hippocampus, and parietal lobe separately showed fair to good efficacy in differentiating ESRD patients from healthy subjects, with the area under the ROC ranging from .853 to .903. Conclusions The microstructure and perfusion of the brain were impaired in ESRD patients. ADC fast of the right frontal lobe, insular lobe, hippocampus, and parietal lobe could be effective biomarker for evaluating cognitive impairment in ESRD patients.