Abstract #3605

Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) MRI as a Biomarker for Diffuse Pathology of Normal Appearing White Matter in the Brain and Spinal Cord in Multiple Sclerosis

Adrienne N. Dula¹,², Richard D. Dortch¹,², David R. Pennell², Francesca Bagnato², Siddharama Pawate³, John C. Gore¹,², Seth A. Smith¹,²

¹Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States; ²Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States; ³Neurology and Neuroimmunology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States

Diffuse abnormalities in the normal appearing white matter (NAWM) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients are known to exist in both the brain and spinal cord (SC). The goal of this study was to use MRI contrast due to chemical exchange by saturation transfer (CEST) to measure protein content (APT) in NAWM of the brain and SC in MS subjects compared to healthy controls. The mean APT metrics were significantly different for healthy (2.031.14%) and MS subjects (2.912.42%), additionally, the MS data exhibits considerable positive skewness (2.49) relative to healthy subjects (0.79) potentially reflective of the diffuse pathophysiology of the NAWM.