Abstract
Objective: The aim of this study is to examine the diffusional changes in the vitreous humor in multiple sclerosis and Behçet's disease.
Materials and Methods: Apparent diffusion coefficient values were investigated in diffusion magnetic resonance imaging scans of a total 111 vitreous, 31 of which were Behçet's disease patients, 40 had multiple sclerosis and 40 were healthy volunteers. Then, multiple sclerosis and Behçet’s disease group were statistically compared with healthy volunteers and their apparent diffusion coefficient values amongst themselves.
Results: There was no significant difference in terms of age and sex distribution among the three study groups (p>0.05). While there was no significant difference between multiple sclerosis and control groups (p>0.05), apparent diffusion coefficient values of Behçet's patients were significantly lower than multiple sclerosis and control groups (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between the patients with uveitis and those without uveitis in Behçet's disease. The apparent diffusion coefficient value of 2934,3(x10-6 mm2/s) had a very high sensitivity and specificity (72.42-92.5%) for the Behçet’s group, and by the use of ROC curve analysis, the detected cut off value for Behçet’s disease was ≤2934,3(x10-6 mm2/s).
Conclusion: Our study showed that diffusion values in the vitreous humor were found to be decreased in patients with Behçet's disease, in comparison with the multiple sclerosis and the control groups. To the best of our knowledge, this has not been reported before.
Keywords: Apparent diffusion coefficient, diffusion weighted MRI, multiple sclerosis, Behçet's disease, vitreous humor, patients.
Graphical Abstract
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