Objective:

The current study aimed to evaluate the corticospinal tract detected by sonography as a biomarker in
ALS patients.

Background:

Corticospinal tract degeneration measured by magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) was previously reported in the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) group. 

Design/Methods:

The study was prepared using the Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy
(STARD) checklist. 15 ALS and 25 age-matched healthy individuals were enrolled in this study.
The cerebral peduncle diameter was recorded by transcranial B-mode sonography. Moreover, the
association of cerebral peduncle diameter with disease severity adjusted by age and sex was
assessed through ordinal regression.

Results:

The average diameter of the cerebral peduncle in ALS patients was significantly lower
than in the control group (1.20 ± 0.21 cm, 1.31 ± 0.11 cm; p=0.013). Although there was a
significant difference in the right cerebral peduncle diameter, the left cerebral diameter was not
significantly different. In addition, by stratifying patients into four grades based on disease
severity, a positive significant association was revealed between the disease severity assessed by
the Revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-r) score and the
cerebral peduncle diameter (Wald: 6.040; OR: 1.609, 95% CI [1.101-2.350]).

Conclusions:

The results of this study specified cerebral peduncle as a biomarker for ALS
disease. Evaluating cerebral peduncles in ALS patients to determine the disease progression over
time is suggested for further study.