Microstructural disruption of white matter in heroin addicts revealed by diffusion tensor imaging: a controlled study

To examine white matter integrity in heroin-dependent patients and matched normal controls with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).The fractional anisotropy was compared between 15 heroin-dependent patients and 15 controls.We found the fractional anisotropy was significantly decreased in specific brain regions of the heroin-dependent patients (P0.001 uncorrected), including the frontal gyrus, the parietal lobule, the insula, and the corpus callosum.The presence of microstructural abnormality is found in the white matter of several brain regions of heroin-dependent patients.