Evidence of Subcortical Grey Matter Atrophy and Surface Morphology Differences in Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

Rose Gelineau-Kattner^1,2, Tarunya Arun¹, Damian Jenkins¹, Morgan Hough¹, Jacqueline Palace³, Mark Jenkinson¹

Grey matter damage is important in the pathology of Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (PPMS). We scanned 22 patients and 7 controls at baseline, and 2, 50, and 52 weeks. FreeSurfer was used to segment subcortical grey matter and vertex analysis was performed with FSLs FIRST to identify differences in surface morphology between groups. Significant atrophy and correlations with EDSS and/or disease duration were seen in some structures at baseline and all structures showed volume reduction over one year. Surface morphology differences were found in the thalamus and pallidum. Results highlight importance of subcortical atrophy and structural morphology differences in PPMS.