TY - JOUR
T1 - Normal-appearing white and grey matter damage in MS
T2 - A volumetric and diffusion tensor MRI study at 3.0 Tesla
AU - Ceccarelli, Antonia
AU - Rocca, Maria A.
AU - Falini, Andrea
AU - Tortorella, Paola
AU - Pagani, Elisabetta
AU - Rodegher, Mariemma
AU - Comi, Giancarlo
AU - Scotti, Giuseppe
AU - Filippi, Massimo
PY - 2007/4
Y1 - 2007/4
N2 - The aims of this study were to improve, using a 3.0 Tesla (T) scanner and diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with sensitivity encoding, our understanding of: 1) the possible pathological substrates of normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and grey matter (GM) damage in multiple sclerosis (MS) and 2) the factors associated to WM and GM atrophy in this condition. Conventional and DT MRI of the brain were acquired from 32 relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients and 16 controls. Lesion load, WM (WMV), overall GM (GMV), and neocortical GM (NCV) volumes were measured. NAWM mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA), and GM MD were calculated. GMV and NCV were lower (p ≤ 0.001) in MS patients than controls, whereas WMV did not differ significantly. MS patients had higher NAWM and GM average MD and lower NAWM average FA (p ≤ 0.001) than controls. Moderate correlations were found between intrinsic lesion and tissue damage with both GM volumetric and diffusivity changes (-0.41 ≤ r ≤ 0.42, p ≤ 0.04). DT MRI and volumetry measurements at 3.0 T confirm the presence of NAWM and GM abnormalities in RRMS patients. Although histopathology was not available, axonal and neuronal damage and consequent reactive glial proliferation are the most likely substrates of the changes observed.
AB - The aims of this study were to improve, using a 3.0 Tesla (T) scanner and diffusion tensor (DT) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with sensitivity encoding, our understanding of: 1) the possible pathological substrates of normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) and grey matter (GM) damage in multiple sclerosis (MS) and 2) the factors associated to WM and GM atrophy in this condition. Conventional and DT MRI of the brain were acquired from 32 relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients and 16 controls. Lesion load, WM (WMV), overall GM (GMV), and neocortical GM (NCV) volumes were measured. NAWM mean diffusivity (MD) and fractional anisotropy (FA), and GM MD were calculated. GMV and NCV were lower (p ≤ 0.001) in MS patients than controls, whereas WMV did not differ significantly. MS patients had higher NAWM and GM average MD and lower NAWM average FA (p ≤ 0.001) than controls. Moderate correlations were found between intrinsic lesion and tissue damage with both GM volumetric and diffusivity changes (-0.41 ≤ r ≤ 0.42, p ≤ 0.04). DT MRI and volumetry measurements at 3.0 T confirm the presence of NAWM and GM abnormalities in RRMS patients. Although histopathology was not available, axonal and neuronal damage and consequent reactive glial proliferation are the most likely substrates of the changes observed.
KW - Grey matter
KW - High-field MRI
KW - Multiple sclerosis
KW - White matter
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U2 - 10.1007/s00415-006-0408-4
DO - 10.1007/s00415-006-0408-4
M3 - Article
C2 - 17401516
AN - SCOPUS:34249012763
VL - 254
SP - 513
EP - 518
JO - Journal of Neurology
JF - Journal of Neurology
SN - 0340-5354
IS - 4
ER -