MR peri-CSF lesions and CSF oligoclonal bands in Italian multiple sclerosis patients

Objectives - We investigated the association between brain lesion distribution and the presence of oligoclonal IgG bands (OCBs) in Italian multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Materials and methods - We retrospectively selected brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uniformly performed in 56 relapsing patients (41 patients OCB positive). Results - Brain lesions in periventricular areas occurred in 92.86% of the patients (100% OCB+ and 73.33% OCB-) (P = 0.004), but we did not find a significant difference for their median volume (P = 0.553) and median number (P = 0.606) between the two groups. Parenchymal lesions occurred in 76.8% of the patients with a similar distribution (P = 1.00) and no significant difference in the median volume (P = 0.818) and number (P = 0.643) between the two groups. Conclusions - The present study on cohort of Italian MS patients demonstrated a lack of correlation between lesion distribution and OCBs, suggesting that B cells producing them could be localized both in meningeal niches and cerebral parenchyma.