ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Neurol.
Sec. Applied Neuroimaging
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2025.1580262
White Matter Changes in Recovered COVID-19 Patients: Insights from DTI, DKI, and NODDI Metrics
Provisionally accepted
- 1Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- 2Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China
- 3Ministry of Education and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Health (Incubating), School of Public Health, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
- 4Affiliated Hospital of Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hebei Province, China
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Background: COVID-19 affects not only the respiratory system but also the central nervous system, resulting in symptoms such as anosmia and confusion. Understanding the long-term neurological effects of COVID-19 is critical for comprehensive patient care and management.Purpose: To study the long-term neurological effects of COVID-19, focusing on changes in white matter structural complexity using advanced neuroimaging techniques.Methods: Thirty-eight participants including 22 recovered COVID-19 patients and 16 healthy controls, underwent MRI scans with T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and diffusion-weighted imaging. Advanced diffusion sequences, including diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI), and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI), were used to assess microstructural integrity.Results: Significant differences in DKI metrics were observed, particularly in mean kurtosis (MK) and radial kurtosis (RK). Reduced MK and RK values were observed in certain regions, particularly the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), indicating reduced structural complexity of the white matter. No significant differences in DTI and NODDI metrics or clinical and demographic characteristics were found between the groups.Conclusion: This study highlights the potential long-term neurological sequelae in recovered COVID-19 patients as evidenced by changes in white matter structural complexity. These findings underscore the importance of continued monitoring and tailored interventions to address neurological sequelae as part of the post-COVID-19 recovery process.
Keywords: COVID-19, Neurological sequelae, diffusion kurtosis imaging, Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging, white matter MRI acquisition
Received: 20 Feb 2025; Accepted: 30 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yuan, Lu, Liu, Zhu, Wang, Wang, Song, Yang and Xiao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lei Yang, Hubei Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, China
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