TY - JOUR
T1 - MRI and neurophysiological measures to predict course, disability and treatment response in multiple sclerosis
AU - Leocani, Letizia
AU - Rocca, Maria A.
AU - Comi, Giancarlo
PY - 2016/6/1
Y1 - 2016/6/1
N2 - Purpose of review The expanding portfolio for multiple sclerosis treatment, together with the consensus that neurodegenerative processes occur since the early disease phases, has increased the need for paraclinical tests with prognostic value on disease evolution and treatment response. Recent findings On the one hand, we face the development of MRI technology, from lesion detection, to global and regional volumetric measures, to tissue damage quantification within brain and spinal cord lesions and in normal appearing tissue, together with increased knowledge about their application. On the other hand, traditional neurophysiological techniques, such as evoked potentials, are being recently analyzed with a quantitative approach allowing us to reveal their correlation with actual and future disability, and are being complemented by more recent technical advancements, such as multifocal visual evoked potentials and optical coherence tomography, for the assessment of demyelination/remyelination and axonal loss, respectively. Summary The increased value of MRI and neurophysiological tools in predicting disease evolution and treatment response will impact the therapeutic management of multiple sclerosis, from the choice of the first treatment to the type and frequency of monitoring toward a tailored, time-adapting treatment approach.
AB - Purpose of review The expanding portfolio for multiple sclerosis treatment, together with the consensus that neurodegenerative processes occur since the early disease phases, has increased the need for paraclinical tests with prognostic value on disease evolution and treatment response. Recent findings On the one hand, we face the development of MRI technology, from lesion detection, to global and regional volumetric measures, to tissue damage quantification within brain and spinal cord lesions and in normal appearing tissue, together with increased knowledge about their application. On the other hand, traditional neurophysiological techniques, such as evoked potentials, are being recently analyzed with a quantitative approach allowing us to reveal their correlation with actual and future disability, and are being complemented by more recent technical advancements, such as multifocal visual evoked potentials and optical coherence tomography, for the assessment of demyelination/remyelination and axonal loss, respectively. Summary The increased value of MRI and neurophysiological tools in predicting disease evolution and treatment response will impact the therapeutic management of multiple sclerosis, from the choice of the first treatment to the type and frequency of monitoring toward a tailored, time-adapting treatment approach.
KW - evoked potentials
KW - MRI
KW - optical coherence tomography
KW - prognosis
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U2 - 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000333
DO - 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000333
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84964057209
VL - 29
SP - 243
EP - 253
JO - Current Opinion in Neurology
JF - Current Opinion in Neurology
SN - 1350-7540
IS - 3
ER -