Aude-Marie Grapperon1, Adil Maarouf2,3, Annie Verschueren1, Amandine Sevy1, Elisabeth Soulier2, Sylviane Confort-Gouny2, Patrick Viout2, Jean-Philippe Ranjeva2, Maxime Guye2,3, Sharham Attarian1, and Wafaa Zaaraoui2
1APHM, Hôpital Timone, Pôle Neurosciences, Marseille, France, 2CRMBM - CNRS - Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France, 3APHM, Hôpital Timone, CEMEREM, Marseille, France
Amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a lethal neurodegenerative disease that involves the
death of upper (in brain) and lower (in spine) motor neurons. As conventional
MRI failed to show brain motor neurons impairment in ALS, advanced techniques
are needed to improve the diagnosis of the disease and monitor its progression.
23Na brain MRI was performed to 4 ALS patients and showed
accumulation of sodium in the primary motor areas in the 3 patients presenting
with clinical brain motor neuron signs. Besides, more patients were clinically affected,
more the sodium accumulation was extended. In conclusion, sodium accumulation,
which is an indicator of neuronal injury, could be a marker of ALS diagnosis
and disease progression.
