1Dept. of Neuroradiology, Technische
Universitaet Dresden, Dresden, SN, Germany; 2Department of
Radiology, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States; 3Department
of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI, United States; 4Imaging
Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, London, ON, Canada; 5Department
of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Western Ontario,
London, ON; 6Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences,
University of Western Ontario, London, ON
We
applied the multi-component Driven Equilibrium Single Pulse Observation of T1
and T2 (mcDESPOT) method to a population of Multiple Sclerosis patients and normal
controls, to assess its ability to characterize brain tissue demyelination
across a spectrum of MS disease severity. We found strong correlations
between Demyelinated Volume and EDSS (clinical disability score), as well as
with Normalized Brain Volume (measure of total brain atrophy). We also found
a significant difference between Demyelinated Volume in normal controls vs
the subset of Clinical Isolated Syndrome patients, demonstrating the ability
of mcDESPOT to sensitively detect early pre-MS changes.
Keywords