Abstract #0602

Evolution of Multiple Sclerosis Ring Lesions: A Serial Phase Imaging Study at 7T

Wei Bian^1,2, Kristin Harter³, Kathryn Hammond Rosenbluth⁴, Duan Xu², Douglas A. C. Kelley², Daniel Vigneron², Sarah J. Nelson^2,5, Daniel Pelletier⁶

¹Joint Graduate Program in BioEngineering at UCSF & UCB, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; ²Department of Radiology & Biomedical Imaging, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; ³School of Pharmacy, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; ⁴Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; ⁵Department of BioEngineeing & Therapeutic Sciences, Unviersity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA; ⁶Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

MRI at 7 Tesla can produce high-resolution phase images of MS lesions that quantify the local field shifts sensitive to iron. A subset of MS lesions visible with phase imaging shows a distinct peripheral ring. The purpose of this serial in vivo 7T study was to follow the evolution of MS lesions showing a phase contrast ring for up to 2.5 years. Our results support the concept that once they have been formed, the peripheral rings in MS white lesions remain stable with time. The biological source of this phase contrast signal remains to be elucidated.