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Abstract #4230

Magnetization Transfer MRI Measurements of Cervical Spinal Cord Abnormalities in Patients with Neuromyelitis Optica

Mina Kim1, Aaron Chan1, Henry Mak1, Queenie Chan2, Koon Ho Chan3

1Department of Diagnostic Radiology, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China; 2Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong; 3Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong


Diagnosing neuromyelitis optica (NMO) in the early stages is crucial in order to provide the proper treatment as it involves aggressive and severe attacks of blindness and paralysis. However, current diagnostic criteria in routine practice using conventional techniques are not sensitive to early abnormalities in NMO. In the present work, we conducted magnetization transfer (MT) imaging for NMO patients. Our results show that it is feasible to assess NMO cervical cord damage of normal appearing tissues using the quantitative capability of MT imaging, which may lead to a better understanding of the clinical manifestations in NMO.