Detecting the shape differences of the corpus callosum in behçet s disease by statistical shape analysis

Abstract

The aim of this study was to assess the shape differences of the cor-pus callosum (CC) in patients with Behc¸et’s disease using statisticalshape analysis (SSA). Additionally, an attempt was made to investigatethe changes in CC size according to disease duration. Twenty-five adultswith clinically diagnosed Behc¸et’s disease and 25 age- and gender-matched controls were examined by high-resolution structural magneticresonance imaging. The data obtained from the coordinate of landmarkswere analyzed with Euclidean distance matrix analysis and a thin-platespline analysis. SSA and growth curve models were performed to investi-gate group differences and to fit the curves. A significant difference wasdetermined between CC shape of Behc¸et patients and controls (P ¼0.006). Based on the analysis, a decrease occurred in the CC size of theBehc¸et patients as the duration of disease increased. Maximum deforma-tions were determined in the landmarks of interior notch of the splenium,inferior tip of the splenium, posterior-most point of the CC, and topmostpoint of the CC. Similarly, the landmark of anterior-most point of the CCwas identified as having the minimum deformation. Behc¸et patients hadsignificantly different CC shapes from control subjects. The results sug-gest that SSA is a promising tool for distinguishing Behc¸et patients fromnormal subjects, and that it can give useful information to assist clini-cians. Additionally, SSA might be applied to detect shape differences inanatomical structures that are affected by a broad range of neurologicaldiseases. Anat Rec, 294:870–874, 2011.VVC2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.