Quantitative analysis of magnetization transfer images of the brain: Effect of closed head injury, age and sex on white matter

Magnetization transfer (MT) imaging has an application in quantitative assessment of cerebral white matter. Previously published postprocessing methods have inherent problems, and therefore a new analysis technique is presented. This technique was found to be more sensitive for white matter changes in patients with a postconcussional syndrome, compared to other methods previously described. Because of the potential application of this technique in longitudinal and group studies, age and sex dependence of the MT ratio (MTR) of white matter were studied. In a group of 51 healthy subjects, a decrease in the mean MTR as well as an increasing distribution width of the MTR was found with increasing age. The mean MTR in males was higher than in females. These results stress the need to take age and sex into account when interpreting MTR data.