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Abstract #0503

Brain Sodium Accumulation & Spreading Correlate with Disability in Multiple Sclerosis

Wafaa Zaaraoui1, Simon Konstandin2, Bertrand Audoin1, Armin M. Nagel3, Audrey Rico1, Irina Malikova1, Elisabeth Soulier1, Patrick Viout1, Sylviane Confort-Gouny1, Patrick J. Cozzone1, Jean Pelletier1, Lothar R. Schad2, Jean-Philippe Ranjeva1

1CRMBM UMR CNRS 6612 - Aix-Marseille Universit, Marseille, France; 2Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany; 3German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Department of Medical Physics in Radiology, Heidelberg, Germany


The key role of sodium accumulation leading to neuronal injury in multiple sclerosis has recently been highlighted. Using in vivo sodium MRI at 3T, we have characterized for the first time the spatial spreading of brain sodium accumulation in two groups of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients (13 early RRMS and 13 advanced RRMS) compared to 15 healthy controls. Brain sodium accumulation was present from the early stage of RRMS and dramatically spread during the course of the disease in the whole brain especially in the normal appearing tissues concomitantly to progression of disability and independently from atrophy.