Abstract #2704

Martinelli V, Ghezzi A, Judica E, Pulizzi A, Comi G, Filippi M, Valsasina P, Benedetti B

In this study, we performed histogram analysis of brain and spinal cord MD and FA from 40 benign MS (BMS) patients, to achieve a better definition of the nature of disability in MS and to define the nature of tissue damage in benign versus secondary-progressive (SP) MS.We found significant differences in the extent of brain GM damage between BMS and SPMS, whereas brain WM and cervical cord metrics do not differ between these two groups. This suggests that cortical functional reorganization may limit the consequences of tissue injury in BMS, possibly related to the sparing of the GM compartment.