Abstract #1100

Deep Gray Matter R2* in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis, Their Healthy Siblings and Unrelated Healthy Controls

Enedino Hernandez-Torres¹, Vanessa Wiggermann¹, David Li², Lindsay Machan², Dessa Sadovnick³, Katherine Knox⁴, Anthony L. Traboulsee⁵, Alexander Rauscher¹

¹Radiology, UBC MRI Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada; ²Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; ³MS Clinic, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; ⁴MS Clinic, Saskatoon City Hospital, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada; ⁵Neurology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with increased iron content in deep gray matter regions. However, it is not known if this increase is a cause or a consequence of MS. In this study we used R2* as a surrogate marker for iron and investigated a group of people with MS, their siblings, and healthy controls. This preliminary analysis (13 subjects from each cohort) found no significant differences in deep gray matter R2*. A trend to increased R2* in MS compared to the other two groups was found, this was strongest in the globus pallidus (p=0.09). Our findings suggest that there is no increased iron content in deep gray matter in siblings who have an increased risk of developing MS.