Clinical application of DTI in diagnosis and prognosis of hemifacial spasm

Abstract Objectives The purpose of this study is test to the application of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in patients with hemifacial spasm (HFS), so as to make more accurate diagnoses before surgery and to judge the degree of recovery more accurately after surgical microvascular decompression (MVD). This is the first study to test the validity of DTI for diagnosis and post-surgical evaluation of HFS. Methods We included 40 patients with HFS who underwent DTI scanning before microvascular decompression. They were followed up with DTI 6 months and 1 year after surgery. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were obtained and compared. Results In patients with HFS, the FA value of the affected side (mean FA, 0.46 ± 0.03) was significantly lower than that of the healthy side (mean FA, 0.43 ± 0.04, p Conclusion The use of DTI improves diagnosis and treatment of HFS.