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Here we present a newly developed clinical application of the Track-weighted imaging technique, typically used to map the brain white-matter fascicles. However, we also observed, in the context of a ClinicalTrials.gov registered trial of healthy subjects, that association of track-weighted imaging with super-resolution properties and adapted mask calculation were able to map the neuroretina fascicles, usually difficult to display with 3T MR scans due to the insufficient spatial resolution of the anatomical sequences.

 

We wished to study the inherent anatomical variability, and the limitations of such imaging in representing these new anatomical connections, by testing the influence of MRI acquisition parameters but also of subjects’ ocular laterality and ocular dominance. Here, we highlight that the presence of a superior neural retina fascicle is linked with the side of ocular dominance. We also present the first imaging representation of the temporal fascicle, which is considered by ophthalmologists to be crucial for the vision process, and which includes the optic nerve papilla and the macula.

 

We next demonstrated that this MRI technique could provide a new insight into the understanding of ocular disorders by applying this method to the study of patients presenting with anterior ischemic ocular neuropathy. This is a model of stroke attack, in which interruption of blood flow to the optic nerve results in histopathologically proven lesions in the neuroretina layers.

 

To further characterize the added value of MRI with diffusion tractography in the management of these patients, we correlated imaging findings with visual field clinical examination, demonstrating that necrosis of the temporal fascicle, identified using track-weighed imaging, correlated with patients’ visual field impairments at the baseline examination and at the 6-month visit.