Usefulness of diffusion tensor imaging and fiber tractography in neurological and neurosurgical pediatric diseases

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) with fiber tractography (FT) is a recently introduced imaging technique that is unique in providing detailed imaging of white matter (WM) tracts and connectivity between different regions of the brain not easily appreciated with other imaging methods. DTI has been used in recent years to investigate several disease conditions involving WM, including brain malformations, cerebral ischemia, multiple sclerosis, neurocutaneous syndromes, and brain tumors. In this paper, we focus our attention on the main applications of DTI-FT in the field of pediatric neurology, adding our personal experience.