Purpose:

To investigate and compare the integrity of white matter in heroin–addicted and healthy control subjects at different abstinent time using diffusion tensor imaging.

Materials and Methods:

We performed voxelwise analysis of fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in 35 currently abstinent heroin abusers who were divided into long-term group (n= 17) and short-term group (n= 18) and 17 healthy volunteers. Measurements of FA and ADC of the identified regions (genu and splenium of corpus callosum, bilateral frontal lobe) were obtained from all subjects.

Results:

The FA at callosal splenium was higher in the long-term group than in the short-term group (P< 0.05). The FA at left prefrontal cortex was higher in the short-term group than in the long-term group (P< 0.05). No significant difference in ADC was found among the 3 groups. The education history had a positive correlation with the FA value on the gena of corpus callosum (r= 0.402, P= 0.017). Months of abstinence had a negative correlation with left frontal FA (r=− 0.366, P= 0.03) and a positive correlation with splenium FA (r= 0.348, P= 0.04).

Conclusions:

Heroin abuse seems to alter white matter microstructure differentially in long-term and short-term heroin addicts. This study will contribute to the current literature by examining the quality of white matter fiber structure in heroin abstinence.