Multiple Sclerosis – Early Detection With MRI

At morphologic MRI, the most easily detectable manifestation of multiple sclerosis is focal white matter lesions (WML) of demyelination. They, however, only represent visible tissue damage.

As a result, they cannot fully explain the topographic origin and severity of many clinical symptoms of multiple sclerosis, especially in the disease’s progressive phase. Advanced imaging techniques have revealed a more subtle yet extensive pathologic manifestation in the gray and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM).

Most spectroscopic studies to date have been limited by low spatial resolution and volume coverage (especially single-voxel studies). Nonetheless, they assumed that the volumes studied were globally representative. Furthermore, research into cortical gray matter (CGM) needs to be improved.

Recent progress in 7.0-T free-induction decay (FID) MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) with matrix sizes of 100 100 reduces previous studies’ partial volume errors and, as previously demonstrated, allows for more accurate characterization of metabolic alterations in WML within clinically appealing scan times of approximately 6 minutes. The researchers assess and investigate the ability of the 7.0-T FID MRSI to depict and visualize pathologic manifestations in the NAWM and CGM in participants with multiple sclerosis.

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