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• Clinical Article •
Value of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging in assessing corpus callosum development in children with autism
LI Yuxin  MA Bingxiang  DANG Weili  ZHOU Rongyi  CUI Jieqiong  HE Junjing 

Cite this article as: LI Y X, MA B X, DANG W L, et al. Value of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging in assessing corpus callosum development in children with autism[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(9): 1-7. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.09.001.


[Abstract] Objective By analyzing neuroimaging features of corpus callosum (CC) subregions in children aged 1 to 12 years with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), this study summarizes structural alterations and dynamic developmental trajectories of CC subregions in ASD children.Materials and Methods Retrospective data from 153 children diagnosed with ASD at their first visit of the Children's Brain Disease Diagnosis and Rehabilitation Center at the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine between June 2021 and December 2023 were collected. The children were divided into three groups based on their age at visit: the 1 to 3 years group (47 cases, 36 males, 11 females), the 3 to 6 years group (89 cases, 70 males, 19 females), and the 6 to 12 years group (17 cases, 14 males, 3 females). Subsequently, cranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) scans were performed. Using DTI-related post-processing software, the fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were measured in the rostrum, genu, body, and splenium of the CC. The differences in DTI parameters were compared among ASD children by gender, age groups, and CC subregions.Results No significant differences were observed in FA and ADC values between different genders across all age groups (P > 0.05). With increasing age, FA values gradually increased and ADC values gradually decreased in children with ASD. Correlation analysis of DTI parameters in the CC subregions with age revealed that: except for the rostrum of CC (r = -0.064, P = 0.433; r = -0.029, P = 0.727), FA values in the genu, body, and splenium of CC showed positive correlations with age (r = 0.335, P = 0.001; r = 0.350, P = 0.001; r = 0.264, P = 0.001), while ADC values showed negative correlations with age (r = -0.466, P= 0.001; r = -0.458, P = 0.001; r = -0.482, P = 0.001). Age-related differences in DTI parameters: the rostrum parameters of the CC showed no statistically significant differences among age groups (P > 0.05). For the genu, body, and splenium of the CC: statistically significant differences existed between the 1 to 3 years group and the 3 to 6 years group, as well as between the 1 to 3 years group and the 6 to 12 years group (P < 0.05). FA values in all CC subregions, along with ADC values in the genu and splenium, showed no statistically significant differences between the 3 to 6 years group and the 6 to 12 years group (P > 0.05). Analysis of DTI parameters in subregions of the CC in children with ASD revealed that FA values decreased sequentially in the splenium, genu, body, and rostrum of the CC, while ADC values increased sequentially in the genu, splenium, body, and rostrum of the CC. Regarding age-specific differences: Only the 1 to 3 years group showed statistically significant differences (P < 0.05) in FA and ADC values across all CC subregions. In the 3 to 6 years and 6 to 12 years groups, differences in some brain regions were not statistically significant (P > 0.05).Conclusions DTI can systematically analyze structural alterations and dynamic evolution patterns in subregions of the CC in children with ASD, providing more objective and comprehensive neuroimaging evidence for clinical diagnosis and exploration of ASD pathological mechanisms.
[Keywords] autism spectrum disorder；magnetic resonance imaging；diffusion tensor imaging；corpus callosum；child development

LI Yuxin1, 2   MA Bingxiang1, 2*   DANG Weili1   ZHOU Rongyi1   CUI Jieqiong1   HE Junjing3  

1 Department of Paediatrics, Henan University of Chinese Medicine First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou 450046, China

2 College of Pediatrics, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450046, China

3 Department of Magnetic Resonance, the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450046, China

Corresponding author: MA B X, E-mail: mbx1963@126.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2024-12-16
Accepted  2025-08-28
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.09.001
Cite this article as: LI Y X, MA B X, DANG W L, et al. Value of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging in assessing corpus callosum development in children with autism[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(9): 1-7. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.09.001.

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