Central vestibular disorder due to ischemic injury on the parieto-insular vestibular cortex in patients with middle cerebral artery territory infarction

Central vestibular disorder is common after middle cerebral artery (MCA) territory infarction. The MCA supplies blood to the parieto-insular vestibular cortex (PIVC), a core region of central vestibular symptoms. We report on patients that sustained injuries of the core vestibular pathway to the PIVC with central vestibular disorder following MCA territory infarction, demonstrated on diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Nineteen patients with MCA territory infarction and 12 control subjects were recruited. To reconstruct the core vestibular pathway to the PIVC, we defined seed region of interest (ROI) as vestibular nuclei of pons and target ROI as the PIVC. Fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity, and tract volume were measured. In the affected hemisphere, FA value of the core vestibular pathway to the PIVC revealed significant difference between all patient groups and the control group (P < .05). In contrast, patients with symptoms of ataxia only revealed significant decrement of tract volume compared with the control group (P < .05). Additionally, subgroup B revealed significant decrement of tract volume compared with that of subgroup A and the control group (P < .05). In the unaffected hemisphere, there was no significant difference in all DTI parameters between all patient groups and the control group (P < .05). Injury to the core vestibular pathway to the PIVC was demonstrated in patients that revealed typical central vestibular disorder following MCA territory infarction. Analysis of the core vestibular pathway to the PIVC using DTI would be beneficial in clinical evaluation and management of patients with MCA territory infarction.