Objective: To compare the hippocampal volume and local surface morphology changes in patients with mesial temporal lobe (mTLE) using the voxel-based morphometry and spherical harmonic methods respectively. Methods: A total of 66 patients (31 males and 35 females, age range from 17 to 48 (28±8) years) with mTLE and 80 age-and gender-matched controls (38 males and 42 females, age range from 19 to 46 (27±7) years) were retrospectively collected from July 2009 to February 2019 at Jinling hospital.. High resolution structural MRI of the whole brain, three-dimensional T1-weighted data(3DT1) were acquired from each subject. The changes of hippocampal volume and surface morphology were evaluated between mTLE groups and controls for observing the hippocampal atrophy pattern by using voxel-based morphometry and spherical harmonic shape descriptions point distribution model respectively. Pearson correlation analysis was conducted for observing the relationship between the morphological changes of hippocampus and disease duration. Results: Compared with the controls, hippocampal volume on the affected side in patients with mTLE was significantly reduced (Z-score:-1.55±0.57 vs 0.38±0.58, P<0.001) and negatively correlated with disease duration (r=-0.297, P=0.016). Furthermore, surface morphology analysis subtly showed that the atrophy of the affected hippocampus in patients with mTLE mainly located in the head, mesial lateral part and posterior tail of the hippocampus. Their displacement values were negatively correlated with disease duration (r=-0.336, P=0.006) and positively associated with the hippocampal grey matter volume (r=0.336, P=0.006). Conclusions: Voxel-based morphometry analysis reveals a global reduction in hippocampal volume, while the morphological measurement method based on surface shape can describe the local morphological changes of hippocampal atrophy.
目的： 采用基于体素形态学和基于球谐函数点分布模型技术，比较分析内侧颞叶癫痫（mTLE）海马体积和表面局部形态的改变特征。 方法： 回顾性收集2009年7月至2019年2月东部战区总医院66例mTLE患者［男31例，女35例，年龄17~48（28±8）岁］，以及80名年龄性别匹配的健康对照者［男38名，女42名，年龄19~46（27±7）岁］，采集全脑结构磁共振高分辨率T1加权成像（3DT1）数据。分别采用基于体素的形态学分析方法测量海马体积，基于球谐函数形状技术测量海马表面形态改变，比较分析mTLE患者相对于健康对照海马萎缩模式；使用Pearson相关分析观察mTLE海马形态学变化与病程的关系。 结果： 与健康对照组相比，mTLE组病侧海马体积明显减小（Z值：-1.55±0.57比0.38±0.58，P<0.001），并与病程呈负相关（r=-0.297，P=0.016）。表面形态学分析精细地显示，mTLE患者病侧海马萎缩主要发生在海马的头部、中部外侧和后尾部，其位移值与病程呈明显负相关（r =-0.336，P=0.006），并与海马灰质体积呈正相关（r=0.336，P=0.006）。 结论： 基于体素形态学分析展示海马体积整体减小，而基于表面形状的形态学测量可描绘海马萎缩的局部形态学变化。.