Assessing regional brain magnetic susceptibility in Wilson’s disease using sub-voxel quantitative susceptibility mapping

Motivation: In Wilson disease, it is currently unknown whether the hypointensitive signals observed in conventional MRI is related to copper or iron deposition. Goal(s): This study aims to map the paramagnetic and diamagnetic susceptibility pattern using a novel sub-voxel quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) method- APART-QSM. Approach: The APART-QSM could quantify the paramagnetic and diamagnetic susceptibility sources. Results: Compared to controls, neuro-WD showed widespread areas of higher paramagnetic susceptibility mainly in the bilateral putamen, global pallidus and thalamus and higher diamagnetic susceptibility primarily in the bilateral caudate, claustrum and thalamus (FDR corrected P < 0.001). Impact: The APART-QSM could precisely quantify the paramagnetic and diamagnetic properties in the brain in Wison's disease. The present study offers significant insights into magnetic susceptibility perturbation of the deep brain nucleus in Wilson's disease.