Injury of the Hypothalamus in Patients With Hypoxic–Ischemic Brain Injury: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study

Objectives The survival rate for hypoxic–ischemic brain injury (HI-BI) is less than 20%. Several brain regions, including the caudate, hippocampus, and hypothalamus, are vulnerable to HI-BI. Hypothalamus is involved in regulation of temperature, sleep-wakefulness cycle, emotional behavior, and memory function. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we examined injury of the hypothalamus in patients with HI-BI. Methods Twelve patients with HI-BI and 27 healthy control subjects were recruited. The region of interest was defined for the hypothalamus and the fractional anisotropy and apparent diffusion coefficient were measured. Results The fractional anisotropy value was significantly lower in the patient group compared with the control group (P

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