Analysis in multivoxel ¹H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy for vascular cognitive impairment none dementia by cerebellar fastigial nucleus stimulation

  Objective  To observe the changes of brain metabolites in patients with vascular cognitive impairment none dementia (VCIND) after cerebellar fastigial nucleus stimulation (FNS) by multivoxel ¹H-magnetic resonance spectroscopy(¹H-MRS).

  Methods  A total of 51 cases with VCIND were randomly divided into observation group (n=25) and control group (n=26). Both groups were treated with conventional medicine, and the observation group was further treated with FNS. Before and after treatment, Mini-mental Status Examination(MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) were used to assess the cognitive function of the two groups, and multivoxel ¹H-MRS was used to detect the metabolites in bilateral frontal lobes, hippocampi, thalami, posterior cingulate gyri and angular gyri.

  Results  MMSE and MoCA scores in the observation group after FNS treatment were significantly higher than those before FNS treatment and the control group(P < 0.05). After treatment, the ratio of N-acetylaspartic acid to creatine in bilateral frontal lobe, hippocampus, posterior cingulate gyrus, thalamus and angular gyrus in the observation group was increased compared with that before treatment and the control group (P < 0.05). There were no adverse reactions in both groups after treatment.

  Conclusion  FNS can improve the cognitive function in patients with VCIND, and may be a new and safe method of non-drug treatment for VCIND. Multivoxel ¹H-MRS may be a useful tool to observe the effect of FNS in treating VCIND.