Isolated Syndromes Suggestive (isolated + syndrome_suggestive)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Gray matter atrophy is related to long-term disability in multiple sclerosis

ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY, Issue 3 2008
Leonora K. Fisniku MRCP
Objective To determine the relation of gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) brain volumes, and WM lesion load, with clinical outcomes 20 years after first presentation with clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods Seventy-three patients were studied a mean of 20 years from first presentation with a clinically isolated syndrome (33 of whom developed relapsing-remitting MS and 11 secondary-progressive MS, with the rest experiencing no further definite neurological events), together with 25 healthy control subjects. GM and WM volumetric measures were obtained from three-dimensional T1-weighted brain magnetic resonance images using Statistical Parametric Mapping 2. Results Significant GM (p < 0.001) and WM atrophy (p = 0.001) was seen in MS patients compared with control subjects. There was significantly more GM, but not WM atrophy, in secondary-progressive MS versus relapsing-remitting MS (p = 0.003), and relapsing-remitting MS versus clinically isolated syndrome (p < 0.001). GM, but not WM, fraction correlated with expanded disability status scale (rs = ,0.48; p < 0.001) and MS Functional Composite scores (rs = 0.59; p < 0.001). WM lesion load correlated with GM (rs = ,0.63; p < 0.001), but not with WM fraction. Regression modeling indicated that the GM fraction explained more of the variability in clinical measures than did WM lesion load. Interpretation In MS patients with a relatively long and homogeneous disease duration, GM atrophy is more marked than WM atrophy, and reflects disease subtype and disability to a greater extent than WM atrophy or lesions. Ann Neurol 2008 [source]


Magnetic resonance imaging measures of brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis

JOURNAL OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING, Issue 5 2006
Valerie M. Anderson BSc
Abstract Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely used to diagnose and monitor multiple sclerosis (MS). Although MRI-visible lesions are a key feature of MS, they are thought to correlate poorly with clinical progression. Neurodegeneration is increasingly being recognized as an important factor in the pathogenesis of MS, and MRI measures of brain atrophy have been suggested as surrogate markers of neuroaxonal loss and disease progression. This pathology may be more relevant to the progression of disability than focal inflammation. A number of MRI-based methods have been developed for the measurement of global and regional brain atrophy. Natural-history studies of MS and clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of MS have observed atrophy in these subjects above that seen in controls, over periods ranging from three months to years. Brain atrophy has also been incorporated as an outcome measure in therapeutic trials of disease-modifying treatments. This paper considers neuroaxonal loss and the pathological basis of brain atrophy, methods developed to quantify brain atrophy, the findings of natural-history and therapeutic studies, the relationship of brain atrophy to disability and cognition, and the future research directions and clinical applications of brain atrophy measurements. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


Conventional MRI in Multiple Sclerosis

JOURNAL OF NEUROIMAGING, Issue 2007
Massimo Filippi MD
ABSTRACT During the past 10 years, conventional magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI) has become an established tool for the assessment of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to monitor treatment trials. This is mainly due to the sensitivity and reproducibility of cMRI in the detection of MS-related damage. A large effort has also been devoted to develop imaging strategies capable of providing accurate estimates of the extent of disease-related damage not only in the brain, but also in the spinal cord and optic nerve. Guidelines have been defined to integrate MR findings in the diagnostic evaluation of patients at presentation with clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of MS, and specific acquisition protocols have been offered for monitoring longitudinal changes in patients with established disease. Despite the fact that the role of cMRI in MS has been profoundly obviated by the advent of modern and quantitative MR techniques, several issues are still unresolved. Technical development in acquisition and postprocessing, as well as the introduction of high-field magnets in the clinical arena, are likely to increase our understanding of disease pathobiology, mainly through an increased ability to quantify the extent of gray matter damage. [source]


Optic neuritis and multiple sclerosis

ACTA OPHTHALMOLOGICA, Issue 3 2001
Mats Söderström
ABSTRACT. Purpose: Review of the association between optic neuritis (ON) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Results: MS often presents as acute unilateral ON. While it is clear that many patients with ON suffer from a generalized disease of the central nervous system that will go on to clinically definite MS (CDMS), it is also clear that others do not. With more and more well-informed patients and the emerging pharmacotheraphy for MS, the distinction between those patients with ON who have MS and those who do not, has become more important than ever before. Recently, a large randomized clinical trial on patients with ON or other clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of MS and evidence of prior subclinical demyelination on magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, found that treatment with recombinant interferon-beta-1a is beneficial by reducing the development of CDMS. Conclusion: Ophthalmologists should refer their patients with acute ON to a neurologist for MS-directed investigations and decisions regarding early institution of disease modifying therapy. [source]