Neuroimaging Biomarkers for Friedreich Ataxia: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the TRACK-FA Study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We aimed to quantify differences in the brain and spinal cord between Friedreich ataxia and controls, stratified by age and disease stage, including for the first time in young children.

Methods

TRACK-FA is the largest prospective, longitudinal, multi-modal neuroimaging study in Friedreich ataxia to date. We assessed individuals with Friedreich ataxia and controls, 5 to 42 years, at 7 sites across 4 continents. The 17 imaging primary outcome measures (POMs) were selected from metrics that showed a significant longitudinal change in previous small-scale studies. These included brain and spinal cord morphometry (structural magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) and microstructure (diffusion MRI); brain iron levels (quantitative susceptibility mapping); and spinal cord bio

SUBMITTER: Georgiou-Karistianis N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12278190 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature