Thomas Tourdias, Vincent Dousset

Neuro-inflammation is characterized by alteration of the BBB which is accompanied by disruption of water homeostasis that can be monitored with diffusion MRI. Contrast agents inform on the status of the BBB in-vivo. Neuro-inflammation is also characterized in several instances by infiltration of immune cells from the blood stream that can be tracked with iron-oxide nanoparticle imaging. In terms of cellular consequences, glial activation is an important hallmark of neuro-inflammation which can induce dendritic/ neuronal alterations, all of them impacting microstructural metrics on MRI. Molecular imaging can also offer more specificities toward modifications of a given cell type.

Joga Chaganti

Neuroinflammation Imaging Approaches: Blood Brain Barrier

Daniel Harrison

Meningeal inflammation occurs in multiple neurologic disorders, including multiple sclerosis. Recent data suggests that leptomeningeal enhancement (LME) on post-contrast FLAIR MRI may be seen in multiple sclerosis and other neuroinflammatory disorders. In this session, we will review the current data on LME in multiple sclerosis and other disorders. 

Susan Gauthier

This talk will discuss imaging methods, including both PET and MRI, used to assess CNS inflammation in MS and highlight the technical challenges and validation studies to provide a comprehensive review. Furthermore, it will be demonstrated how imaging is being utilized to explore the role of the innate immune response on the pathological mechanisms of disease in MS and the impact on clinical disability.

Melanie Martin, Russell Jacobs, Kathryn Morton, Silvia De Santis

Example of animal models of inflammation will be presented.For many brain diseases, neuroinflammation is emerging as a cause, rather than a consequence of the pathogenesis. Characterizing the neuroinflammation, and understanding the effects of the neuroinflammation are important.  The contribution to the field of four studies will be explained. 

Jan-Mendelt Tillema

Lyna Kamintsky, Steven Beyea, John Fisk, Javeria Hashmi, Antonia Omisade, Timothy Bardouille, Chris Bowen, Maher Quraan, Kara Matheson, Alon Friedman, John Hanly

This educational talk is aimed at MR physicists looking to gain an introductory background to neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE), the role of neuroinflammation in dysfunction of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) in NPSLE, and specifically the role of Dynamic Contrast Enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) in evaluating diseases/disorders such as NPSLE.

Itamar Ronen