Table 3 Factors associated with disease progression outcomes.

From: MRI of the cervical spinal cord predicts respiratory dysfunction in ALS

 

Survival

Total ALSFRS-r

Bulbar ALSFRS-r

Slow Vital Capacity

HR (95%CI)

p-value

Interaction coefficient \({{\rm{\beta }}}_{3}\) (SD) (#)

p-value•

Interaction coefficient \({{\rm{\beta }}}_{3}\) (SD) (#)

p-value•

Interaction coefficient \({{\rm{\beta }}}_{3}\) (SD) (#)

p-value

At baseline

Bilateral pre-central and central (motor) cortex

 R2*

0.97 (0.76 to 1.22)

0.77

−0.02 (0.11)

0.84

    

 Volume

0.73 (0.46 to 1.17)

0.19

0.42 (1.79)

0.81

    

 Naa

0.96 (0.78 to 1.19)

0.73

0.29 (1.07)

0.79

    

Bilateral PLIC

 FA

0.95 (0.89 to 1.01)

0.086

5.93 (2.88)

0.045

    

 MD+

2.32 (1.03 to 5.23)

0.043

−0.77 (0.36)

0.036

    

Medulla oblongata

 R2*

1.02 (0.89 to 1.18)

0.78

0.005 (0.06)

0.93

0.01 (0.02)

0.61

  

 Volume

1.11 (0.97 to 1.26)

0.14

−5.55 (5.30)

0.30

−2.89 (1.86)

0.13

  

 FA

0.91 (0.49 to 1.71)

0.77

−0.54 (2.98)

0.86

0.03 (1.04)

0.98

  

 MD+

1.15 (0.98 to 1.34)

0.085

0.05 (0.09)

0.57

0.04 (0.03)

0.021

  

Cervical spinal cord

 R2*

1.02 (0.97 to 1.07)

0.50

0.02 (0.02)

0.44

  

0.08 (0.07)

0.27

 Volume (¤)

0.87 (0.44 to 1.71)

0.68

−0.27 (0.34)

0.43

  

−0.88 (1.15)

0.45

 Corrected Volume (Δ)

0.93 (0.43 to 2.00)

0.85

−0.44 (0.37)

0.23

  

−1.29 (1.25)

0.31

Variations between inclusion and 3 months

Bilateral pre-central and central (motor) cortex

 R2* difference (t3 − t0)

1.02 (0.71 to 1.46)

0.91

−0.10 (0.08)

0.20

    

 Volume difference (t0 − t3)

0.53 (0.16 to 1.72)

0.29

4.36 (2.60)

0.10

    

 Naa difference (t0 − t3)

1.13 (0.80 to 1.60)

0.49

0.33 (0.78)

0.68

    

Bilateral PLIC

 FA difference (t3 − t0)

1.23 (0.22 to 6.75)

0.81

−0.01 (4.54)

0.99

    

 MD difference (t0 − t3) +

2.15 (0.37 to 12.36)

0.39

−0.22 (0.62)

0.73

    

Medulla oblongata

 R2* difference (t3 − t0)

0.96 (0.84 to 1.09)

0.51

−0.04 (0.04)

0.39

−0.02 (0.02)

0.46

  

 Volume difference (t0 − t3)

0.98 (0.72 to 1.33)

0.89

8.70 (8.02)

0.29

1.87 (4.72)

0.18

  

 FA difference (t3 − t0)

0.88 (0.29 to 2.64)

0.81

−1.62 (2.52)

0.53

0.04 (0.74)

0.96

  

 MD difference (t0 − t3) +

1.08 (0.78 to 1.50)

0.63

0.03 (0.09)

0.69

0.01 (0.02)

0.53

  

Cervical spinal cord

 R2* difference (t3-t0)

0.98 (0.88 to 1.09)

0.67

0.007 (0.02)

0.73

  

0.07 (0.08)

0.43

 Volume difference (t0 − t3) (¤)

8.72 (0.80 to 95.07)

0.07

−0.85 (0.49)

0.095

  

−4.56 (1.48)

0.005

 Corrected Volume (t0 − t3)(∆)

1.19 (0.54 to 2.61)

0.65

−0.28 (0.24)

0.26

  

−3.37 (1.27)

0.013

  1. Volume (as a percentage of the intracranial volume and in mm3 for spinal cord); R2* values (in s−1); diffusivity; magnetic resonance spectrometry
  2. HR = hazard ratio calculated with Cox proportional hazards. Volume (as a percentage of the intracranial volume and in mm3 for the spinal cord); R2* mean values (1/T2*) (in s−1). The volume of the cervical spinal cord is determined from the middle of the 3rd vertebra to the middle of the 5th vertebra. The corrected volume is the normalization of this volume by the cord length from C1 to C7.
  3. Quantitative variables were expressed as the mean (standard deviation) if normally distributed or the median [interquartile range] if not. Categorical variables were expressed as the number (percentage). The normality of distribution was assessed using histograms and the Shapiro-Wilk test.
  4. ALSFRS-r: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Rating Scale - Revised Version; CI: confidence interval; PLIC: posterior limb of internal capsule; FA: fractional anisotropy; MD: mean diffusivity; NAA: N-acetyl aspartate; SD = standard deviation; (#) Coefficient β_3 of a mixed model with the outcomes (global ALSFRS-r score or bulbar ALSFRS-r score or SVC) as the dependent variable. 〖At baseline: N = 40 patients.ALSFRS-r〗_ij = β_0 + β_1 t_ij + β_2 R2_i + β_3 R2_i*t_ij + γ_0i + γ_1i t_ij + ε_ij. tij = for any subject i, time in months elapsed from baseline to the current measure j of parameters. Variations between inclusion and 3 months: N = 26 patients. 〖ALSFRS-r〗_ij = β_0 + β_1 t_ij + β_2 R〖2(t3 − t0)〗_i + β_3 R〖2(t3 − t0)〗_i*t_ij + γ_0i + γ_1i t_ij + ε_ij. tij = for any subject i, time in months elapsed from 3 months to the current measure j of parameters. •p-values for interactions tagged in bold are significant at p < 0.05. +In units × 10000. (¤) in units/1000.
  5. Data not shown: there were no differences for the Glx, mI and Cho peaks.
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