Abstract
To pinpoint brain areas exhibiting deviations in white and gray matter (GM, WM) among individuals with orbital fractures (OF) through voxel-based morphometry (VBM). Neuroimaging methods are employed to uncover any cortical abnormalities in patients suffering from orbital fractures. The aim is to explore the possible impacts and clinical significance of orbital fractures on brain structure. Twenty patients (12 males, 8 females) with OF and 20 (12 males, 8 females) age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled. All subjects underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Imaging data were analyzed using two sample t tests to identify the between-groups differences in gray and white matter. We used the differences of the WM volume and GM volume values between the two groups as diagnostic markers. The mean values of the WM and GM volumes in different brain regions were extracted and used to analyze Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Lower GM density (P < 0.05) was found in patients with OF than in healthy subjects in three clusters, the right superior temporal gyrus, the right middle temporal gyrus, the right and left inferior frontal orbital gyrus, the left superior temporal gyrus, the anterior cingulate and the paracingulate gyrus, and the right Insula. In addition, the WM density in patients with OF decreased significantly in the brain regions of the right parahippocampal gyrus and the left superior temporal gyrus (P < 0.05). This study found abnormal brain structure in patients with OF based on VBM. We found GM reduction in patients with OF in three clusters and WM reduction in the right parahippocampal gyrus and the left superior temporal gyrus, which may reflect pathologic mechanisms of OF in vision, motor and cognition. Furthermore, ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the mean values of the WM and GM volumes in different brain regions, are expected to be used as an imaging marker for evaluating the effects of orbital frontal trauma on the central nervous system (CNS). This paper presented a research orientation for further exploration.