Salem
Hannoun1,2, Franoise Durand-Dubief, 1,3, Christian
Confavreux3, Dominique Sappey-Marinier1,2
1CREATIS-LRMN, University of Lyon 1,
Lyon, Rhone-Alpes, France; 2CERMEP-Imagerie du Vivant, Bron,
Rhone-Alpes, France; 3Neurological Hospital, Lyon, Rhone-Alpes,
France
This
study aims to characterize early pathological processes occurring in twelve
multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS)
compared to relapsing remitting (RR) patients and control subjects using
tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Significant alterations of diffusivity
including FA decrease, and axial (a) and radial (r) diffusivities
increases, were found in extensive white matter regions of CIS patients, with
r being the most affected. If r alterations may reflect the demyelinating
processes occurring in MS, a can be more evocative of late appearing axonal
damage as confirmed by the increase of a in RR compared to CIS patients.
Keywords