Richard D. Dortch1,
2, Adrienne N. Dula1, 2, Francesca Bagnato1,
2, David R. Pennell1, 2, Siddharama Pawate3,
Simon Hametner4, Hans Lassmann4, John C. Gore1,
2, Seth A. Smith1, 2
1Radiology
and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United
States; 2Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States; 3Neurology,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States; 4Center for
Brain Research, Medical University, Vienna, Austria
We recently developed a selective inversion recovery (SIR) quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) protocol that exploits the increased signal-to-noise ratio available at 7.0 T to reduce scan times. The goals of this study were: 1) to establish the relationship between the resulting SIR-derived metrics and pathological changes in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients and 2) to validate the SIR technique by comparing qMT parameter maps in postmortem brains to histological measurements of myelin. The in vivo results suggest that SIR-derived metrics are sensitive to RRMS pathology, and the postmortem results suggest that the method is reporting on changes in myelin content.