Abstract #1989

Multi-shell diffusion imaging is a sensitive marker for longitudinal axonal degeneration in multiple sclerosis

Nicola Toschi^1,2, Silvia De Santis^3,4, Tobias Granberg^2,5,6, Russel Ouellette IV^2,5, Constantina Andrada Treaba², Elena Herranz², Qiuyun Fan², and Caterina Mainero²

¹Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy, ²Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ³CSIC-UMH, Instituto de Neurociencias de Alicante, Alicante, Spain, ⁴Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), Cardiff University, Cardiff, United Kingdom, ⁵Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden, ⁶Department of Radiology, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Axonal loss, a crucial pathological process in multiple sclerosis (MS), can be disentangled non-invasively by the CHARMED diffusion model. 8 early MS subjects were scanned at baseline and after 1 year follow-up. At follow-up, TBSS analysis showed statistically significant changes (decrease in FR/FA, increase in MD) compared to baseline in widespread brain regions. The most extensive change was evident in FR, which also showed the greatest sensitivity, especially in areas of fiber-crossing. FR was the only index which detected longitudinal change in axonal density in lesions and therefore holds promise as a biomarker for early diagnosis and disease-monitoring purposes.

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