Fahad Salman1, Robert Zivadinov1,2, Niels Bergsland3, Michael G. Dwyer1, Bianca Weinstock Guttman4, and Ferdinand Schweser1,5
1Neuroimaging, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Buffalo, NY, United States, 2MRI Clinical and Translational Research Center, Buffalo, NY, United States, 3Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, Buffalo, NY, United States, 4Neurology, Jacobs Comprehensive MS Center for Treatment & Research, Buffalo, NY, United States, 5Neurology, MRI Clinical and Translational Research Center, Buffalo, NY, United States
Several recent cross-sectional studies have observed decreasedmagnetic susceptibility in the thalamus of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM).However, the concavity of the iron concentration trajectory in normal aging renders the interpretation of findings of the previous studies difficult. In the present work, we applied QSM longitudinally in conjunction with a dedicated analysis procedure to obtain optimal longitudinal measurement accuracy. Our longitudinal results confirm previous cross-sectional findings and suggest that thalamic QSM may serve as an imaging marker for disease progression in MS.
