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Abstract #1262

Evaluation of Muscle Degeneration in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients Using MR Cytography

Sudarshan Ragunathan1, Laura C Bell1, Ashley M Stokes1, Nicole Turcotte2, Shafeeq Ladha3, and C Chad Quarles1

1Neuroimaging Research, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States, 2Research-ALS, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States, 3Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix, AZ, United States

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons resulting in progressive muscle atrophy. The heterogeneous nature of disease progression has limited the reliability and robustness of current clinical indicators used in disease monitoring. To address the need for reproducible, quantitative biomarkers, we propose the applicability of Magnetic Resonance Cytography (MRC) to characterize ALS induced changes to muscle myofiber microstructure. In this clinical study, the role of MRC as a potential biomarker was demonstrated by identifying changes to muscle cytoarchitecture in the lower extremities among ALS patients when compared with healthy muscle.

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