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Abstract #0956

Connected WM lesions are associated with reduced cortical thickness in long-standing multiple sclerosis

Martijn D. Steenwijk 1 , Marita Daams 1,2 , Lisanne J. Balk 3 , Prejaas K. Tewarie 3 , Jeroen J.G. Geurts 2 , Frederik Barkhof 1 , Hugo Vrenken 1,4 , and Petra Pouwels 4

1 Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, VU University medical center, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 2 Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences, VU University medical center, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 3 Department of Neurology, VU University medical center, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands, 4 Department of Physics and Medical Technology, VU University medical center, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Gray matter (GM) atrophy is common in multiple sclerosis (MS), but the spatial relation with white matter (WM) pathology is largely unknown. Studies investigating this topic are often limited to early patients or specific tracts. We present a new method using an advanced tractography-based approach to obtain lesion connectivity maps at the cortical surface. Group-level vertex-wise statistics in a large cohort (n=208) of long-standing MS patients revealed large areas with negative associations between lesion connectivity and cortical thickness, indicating that cortical atrophy in MS can at least partly be explained by axonal damage or disconnection due to WM lesions.

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