Assunta Dal-Bianco1,
Gnther Grabner2, Hans Lassmann3, Melanie Schernthaner4,
Claudia Kronnerwetter5, Michael Weber4, Clemens Vass6,
Karl Kircher6, Andreas Reitner6, Eduard Auff7,
Siegfried Trattnig5
1Department
of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; 2High
field MR Center of Excellence, Department of Radiology, Medical University of
Vienna, Vienna, Austria; 3Center for Brain Research, Medical
University of Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, Vienna, Austria; 4Department
of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, Vienna,
Austria; 5High field MR Center of Excellence, Department of
Radiology, Medical University of Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, Vienna,
Austria; 6Department of Ophthalmology and Optometrics, Medical
University of Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, Vienna, Austria; 7Department
of Neurology, Medical University of Vienna/Vienna General Hospital, Vienna,
Austria
Intralesional veins are known to be a histopathological hallmark of Multiple Sclerosis. Inflammatory tissue of relapsing-remitting and secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis plaques show a significantly higher proportion of deoxygenated veins compared to corresponding non-inflammatory control tissue and corresponding normal appearing white matter tissue. Proportion of visible veins within plaques did not change significantly within 2 years. Ultrahigh spatial resolution provided by the high SNR and the higher phase shift at 7T allows to analyze vein density in MS plaques in comparison to normal appearing white matter which may provide an insight into the pathophysioloy of MS in vivo.
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