Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging and Voxel-Based Morphometry Analysis of the Brain Development in Children with Sensorineural Hearing Loss

The aim of this study is to assess the value of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in detecting the changes of microstructure and volume changes in children with congenital sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL). Seventy-two SNHL children and 38 healthy individuals received conventional MRI, DKI examination of the brain. Compared with healthy individuals, 72 SNHL patients displayed significantly reduced FA or MK values in the auditory pathway, auditory cortex and language and emotion related cortex (all P 3 years old) have significant differences in MK in more brain's major areas than FA, and the grey matter volume decreased in the left middle temporal cortex, bilateral middle frontal cortex and the frontal lobe(P <0. 01). There is no statistical difference of volume changes in children (≤3 years old). Structural changes of the brain in SNHL patients could be detected by using DKI and VBM. DKI is more beneficial than VBM to reveal the delayed development in brain of child with SNHL.