Contributions
Abstract: P1014
Type: Poster
Abstract Category: Pathology and pathogenesis of MS - Imaging
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease that causes demyelination of the central nervous system. Non-conventional MRI techniques (e.g. Magnetization Transfer) help in characterizing this pathology, which is not only a focal disorder affecting white matter (WM), but it also affects the gray matter (GM) and is responsible for a diffuse progression as in the “normal-appearing WM”. Unfortunately, none of the current MR techniques is really specific to myelin and factors occurring in MS such as inflammation, gliosis, axonal injury, demyelination and remyelination, all participate to the MR signal, hence preventing accurate assessment of the myelin status.
Objectives: Our study aimed at evaluating the sensitivity for MS disease of a new MR contrast, namely « inhomogeneous magnetization transfer » (ihMT), which has shown unique apparent specificity for myelin in normal subject studies.
Methods: Thirty-two patients (27 diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS (RR), 5 with primary progressive MS (PP)), and 13 sex- and age-matched control subjects were scanned at 1.5T. The protocol included anatomical and ihMT sequences. Quantitative analyses of the ihMT ratios (ihMTR) were performed in different brain areas for the 3 groups (PP, RR, controls) and values were compared to regular MT ratios.
Results: IHMTR/MTR values measured in occipital (OWM), frontal (FWM) and temporal (TWM) lobes of WM were found significantly lower in patients (RR and PP) than that of controls, hence demonstrating that ihMT is sensitive to MS. Of particular interest, significant differences were found in ihMTR in OWM and TWM between PP and RR patients, whereas in contrast, no differences were found for MTR values.
Conclusions: Our preliminary results suggest that ihMT is sensitive to MS disease and that its specificity for myelin might be a precious asset for discriminating between pathological states and monitoring demyelination and remyelination in MS patients. Further studies are needed to confirm and extend these conclusions.
Disclosure: nothing to disclose
Abstract: P1014
Type: Poster
Abstract Category: Pathology and pathogenesis of MS - Imaging
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease that causes demyelination of the central nervous system. Non-conventional MRI techniques (e.g. Magnetization Transfer) help in characterizing this pathology, which is not only a focal disorder affecting white matter (WM), but it also affects the gray matter (GM) and is responsible for a diffuse progression as in the “normal-appearing WM”. Unfortunately, none of the current MR techniques is really specific to myelin and factors occurring in MS such as inflammation, gliosis, axonal injury, demyelination and remyelination, all participate to the MR signal, hence preventing accurate assessment of the myelin status.
Objectives: Our study aimed at evaluating the sensitivity for MS disease of a new MR contrast, namely « inhomogeneous magnetization transfer » (ihMT), which has shown unique apparent specificity for myelin in normal subject studies.
Methods: Thirty-two patients (27 diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS (RR), 5 with primary progressive MS (PP)), and 13 sex- and age-matched control subjects were scanned at 1.5T. The protocol included anatomical and ihMT sequences. Quantitative analyses of the ihMT ratios (ihMTR) were performed in different brain areas for the 3 groups (PP, RR, controls) and values were compared to regular MT ratios.
Results: IHMTR/MTR values measured in occipital (OWM), frontal (FWM) and temporal (TWM) lobes of WM were found significantly lower in patients (RR and PP) than that of controls, hence demonstrating that ihMT is sensitive to MS. Of particular interest, significant differences were found in ihMTR in OWM and TWM between PP and RR patients, whereas in contrast, no differences were found for MTR values.
Conclusions: Our preliminary results suggest that ihMT is sensitive to MS disease and that its specificity for myelin might be a precious asset for discriminating between pathological states and monitoring demyelination and remyelination in MS patients. Further studies are needed to confirm and extend these conclusions.
Disclosure: nothing to disclose