Abstract
BACKGROUND: Pituitary adenomas (PA) frequently compress the optic chiasm, leading to visual field defects (VFDs) and potentially affecting the function of brain networks. This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate alterations in brain networks in PA patients with chiasmal compression using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). METHODS: In this study, 35 PA patients with chiasmal compression and 33 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled and underwent rs-fMRI scanning. Network-Based Statistic (NBS) and large-scale network analyses were performed. Additionally, correlations were analyzed between altered functional connectivity (FC) and suprasellar extension distance, duration of VFDs, as well as mean deviation (MD), reflecting the degree of VFDs. RESULTS: Combining NBS and large-scale network analyses, we found that PA patients with chiasmal compression mainly showed significantly decreased intra- and inter-network connectivity, including the visual network (VN), dorsal attention network (DAN), ventral attention network (VAN), default mode network (DMN), frontoparietal network (FPN), somatosensory-motor network (SMN), and subcortical network (SCN). Moreover, the decreased mean FC values within VN and between VN-VAN were negatively correlated with suprasellar extension distance, and the decreased mean FC within VN was positively correlated with MD. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the widespread dysfunction of brain networks in PA patients with chiasmal compression. These findings offer new insights into the brain dysfunction in PA patients with chiasmal compression and could also aid in the evaluation of therapeutic efficacy for the disease.