MS in White Matter

Thursday 15 May 2014

Bailey Komishke¹, Luanne Metz², Lenora Brown², and Yunyan Zhang^2
1University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²University of Calgary, AB, Canada

We recruited 19 patients with advance SPMS and mild RRMS and 19 controls to determine whether tissue damage differs across different regions of the corpus callosum (CC) and between cohorts. Using whole-brain sagittal DTI, we developed a simple template to partition the CC into 6 segments. We found tissue organization different between CC segments and tissue damage the greatest in the body and splenium, which are comprised of large-caliber axons, of SPMS. There was only minimal tissue injury in RRMS but in similar locations. Our results suggest the vulnerability of large-caliber axons likely causing advanced disability in SPMS.

Arzu Ceylan HAS¹, Gamze DURHAN², Sevda DIKER³, Asli TUNCER³, and Kader KARLI OGUZ^3
1National Magnetic Resonance Research Center (UMRAM), Ankara, Turkey, ²Department of Radiology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey,³Department of Neurology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

Diffusion tensor imaging, multiple sclerosis, clinically isolated syndrome, smoke, white matter, FA, MD.

Hugh Kearney¹, Torben Schneider¹, Marios C. Yiannakas¹, Claudia A.M. Wheeler-Kingshott¹, Olga Ciccarelli^1,2, and David H. Miller^1,2
1NMR Research Unit, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ²NIHR University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre, London, United Kingdom

We have quantified spinal cord abnormalities in people with relapse-onset multiple sclerosis (MS) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in specific white matter and grey matter tracts. Abnormal DTI metrics were evident in the spinal cord of people with clinically isolated syndrome prior to the accumulation of significant levels of physical disability. In both relapsing remitting and secondary progressive MS, DTI values also differed significantly from controls. In the MS cohort (i.e. excluding CIS) there were a number of significant correlations with physical disability in both white matter tracts and the central spinal cord grey matter.

Daeun Kim^1,2 and Jongho Lee^2
1Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, ²Department of Radiology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States

A new myelin water-weighted imaging (MWwI) method was developed to generate a balanced mixture of myelin water and axonal/extracellular signals in the white matter of the brain. MWwI allows us to acquire myelin water weighted images at the early echoes (< 10 ms), and axonal/extracellular water signals at late echoes.

Elizabeth Monohan¹, Sneha Pandya², Kyoko Fujimoto¹, Thanh D. Nguyen², Christopher Blackwell¹, Nancy Nealon¹, Jai S. Perumal¹, Ashish Raj², Tim Vartanian¹, and Susan A. Gauthier^1
1Neurology and Neuroscience, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States, ²Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States

The aim of this study was to apply a fast whole T2prep 3D spiral acquisition and a novel post-processing algorithm to a cohort of 141 MS patients and assess its capability in demonstrating the variability in myelin content among lesions and normal appearing white matter.

Peder Eric Zufall Larson¹, Angela Jakary¹, Daniel B. Vigneron¹, Douglas A. C. Kelley², Sarah J. Nelson¹, and Roland G. Henry^1,3
1Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, University of California - San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States, ²Neuro Apps and Workflow, GE Healthcare, Corte Madera, CA, United States, ³Neurology, University of California - San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States

 

Vipul R Sheth¹, Qun He¹, Shihong Li¹, Shahram Saberi², Scott Vandenberg², Graeme M Bydder¹, and Jiang Du^1
1Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States, ²Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States

We report on using an inversion recovery prepared ultrashort TE sequence to directly image the ultrashort T2 components of white matter in MS. The IR-UTE sequence shows high contrast between normal and abnormal white matter. It also shows gray matter lesions and high signal from deep gray matter nuclei. This may be a result of iron deposition.

Adriane Gröger¹, Vinzenz Fleischer¹, Rupert Kolb², Uwe Klose², and Frauke Zipp^1
1Department of Neurology and Neuroimaging Center (NIC), Mainz, Germany, ²Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Magnetic Resonance Research Group, Tübingen, Germany

Our findings of increased creatine and myo-inositol levels but not different NAA levels suggest that inflammation processes are more strongly associated with early disease than neuronal loss that is correlated with disease duration. Furthermore, the higher glutamate and glutathione levels in RRMS patients receiving escalation therapy (no alter metabolites pre to post treatment with natalizumab) can be interpreted as a marker for more fulminant disease progression but not for disease duration.

Iris D Kilsdonk¹, Martijn D Steenwijk¹, Petra Pouwels², Jaco JM Zwanenburg³, Jeroen JG Geurts⁴, Frederik Barkhof¹, and Mike P Wattjes^1
1Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University medical center, Amsterdam, Noord Holland, Netherlands, ²Physics and Medical Technology, VU University medical center, Amsterdam, Noord Holland, Netherlands, ³Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands,⁴Anatomy and Neurosciences, VU University medical center, Amsterdam, Noord Holland, Netherlands

Enlarged perivascular spaces - Virchow Robin Spaces (VRS) - in 34 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 11 healthy controls were analyzed with high resolution structural MRI at 7T. VRS were measured and related to inflammatory (MS lesion load) and neurodegenerative (brain atrophy) variables. Compared to controls, MS patients showed an increased number of VRS, which was associated with supratentorial brain atrophy, age and disease duration, but not with lesion load. This suggests that VRS might rather serve as a neurodegenerative than an inflammatory radiological marker in MS.

Matilde Inglese¹, Maria Petracca¹, Roxana Teodorescu², Laura Jonkman², Niels Oesingmann³, and Lazar Fleysher^4
1Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States, ²Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States, ³Siemens Healthcare, New York, New York, United States, ⁴Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States

Accumulation of intra-axonal sodium ions represents a key factor in the degenerative process in multiple sclerosis (MS). MRI measurement of total sodium concentration (TSC) is feasible in MS patients. We report the in-vivo measurement at 7 Tesla MRI of intra and extracellular sodium concentrations in MS patients. We describe the potential contribution of sodium dishomeostasis to disease pathophysiology and its clinical impact.