White matter damage in end-stage kidney disease patients with cognitive impairment: a fixel-based analysis

Patients with end-stage kidney disease are vulnerable to cognitive impairment or dementia. Previous studies indicated that end-stage kidney disease subjects manifest prominent white matter hyperintensities. We use fixel-based analysis to examine the tract-specific differences in fixel-based metrics between end-stage kidney disease patients and normal participants. The results demonstrate the pattern of white matter degeneration in end-stage kidney disease patients. Our findings suggest that end-stage kidney disease patients with cognitive impairment exhibit white matter abnormalities. In clinical, the fixel-based analysis may serve as a potential biomarker for monitoring white matter change caused by disease.