Volumetric examination of the cerebellum and cortical visual centres in individuals with nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy using automatic segmentation

Objective: Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is a clinical condition caused by acute ischemic damage to the anterior part of the optic nerve. In this study, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images of NAION patients and healthy control subjects (HC) were analyzed and compared using an automatic segmentation method. Materials and Methods: The study included 14 patients diagnosed with NAION and 14 HC. VolBrain method, which provides brain parcellation with Voxel-Based Morphometry (VBM), was used for volumetric analysis of brain MR images. In the statistical analysis of the findings, the Mann-Whitney U test was employed. Results: We found that cerebrum, gray and white matter, frontal lobe and middle frontal gyri, occipital lobe, calcarine cortex, lingual gyrus, superior and middle occipital gyri volumes were significantly lower in NAION patients compared to the HC (p < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in the volume analysis of the cerebellum and its parts (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Our study reveals that NAION induces volumetric changes in visual and non-visual regions of the cerebral cortex, but not in the volume of the cerebellum.