Henitsoa Rasoanandrianina1,2,3,4, Aude-Marie Grapperon5, Manuel Taso1,2,3,4, Olivier M. Girard1,2, Guillaume Duhamel1,2, Elisabeth Soulier1,2, Lauriane Pini1,2, Audrey Rico6, Bertrand Audoin6, Maxime Guye1,2, Jean-Philippe Ranjeva1,2, and Virginie Callot1,2,3
1CRMBM UMR 7339, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, Marseille, France, 2CEMEREM, AP-HM, Pôle d'Imagerie Médicale, Hopital de La Timone, Marseille, France, 3iLab-Spine International Associate Laboratory, Marseille/Montréal, France, 4LBA UMR T 24, Aix-Marseille Université, IFSTTAR, Marseille, France, 5Service de Neurologie et Maladies neuro-musculaires, AP-HM,Hopital de La Timone, Marseille, France, 6Service de Neurologie et Unité NeuroVasculaire, AP-HM,Hopital de La Timone, Marseille, France
In this study,
regional alteration of the spinal cord (SC) tissue encountered in amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis (ALS) were investigated using dedicated SC templates and 3T-multiparametric
MRI techniques, in particular diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and the emerging myelin-specific
inhomogeneous magnetization transfer (ihMT) technique.
Results collected on 9
patients showed significant alteration of the DTI metrics compared to
age-matched controls. They also demonstrated impairment of the MT metrics in
the bilateral corticospinal tracts, as well as in the dorsal sensory tracts and
the anterior gray matter horns. Combined with reduced ihMT metric variations,
this suggests increase of the macromolecular pool, without pronounced
demyelination.
The structural changes we observed suggest a complex
chrono-physiopathology that need to be further investigated.
