eprintid: 2423 rev_number: 9 eprint_status: archive userid: 6 dir: disk0/00/00/24/23 datestamp: 2014-12-18 11:19:20 lastmod: 2016-04-06 09:02:53 status_changed: 2014-12-18 11:19:20 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Bonnier, Guillaume creators_name: Roche, Alexis creators_name: Romascano, David creators_name: Simioni, Samanta creators_name: Meskaldji, Djalel-Eddine creators_name: Rotzinger, David creators_name: Lin, Ying-Chia creators_name: Menegaz, Gloria creators_name: Schluep, Myriam creators_name: Du Pasquier, Renaud creators_name: Sumpf, Tilman Johannes creators_name: Frahm, Jens creators_name: Thiran, Jean-Philippe creators_name: Krueger, Gunnar creators_name: Granziera, Cristina creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: yingchia.lin@imtlucca.it creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: creators_id: title: Advanced MRI unravels the nature of tissue alterations in early multiple sclerosis ispublished: pub subjects: QA75 subjects: RC divisions: CSA full_text_status: public abstract: Introduction In patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides only limited insights into the nature of brain damage with modest clinic-radiological correlation. In this study, we applied recent advances in MRI techniques to study brain microstructural alterations in early relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients with minor deficits. Further, we investigated the potential use of advanced MRI to predict functional performances in these patients. Methods Brain relaxometry (T1, T2, T2*) and magnetization transfer MRI were performed at 3T in 36 RRMS patients and 18 healthy controls (HC). Multicontrast analysis was used to assess for microstructural alterations in normal-appearing (NA) tissue and lesions. A generalized linear model was computed to predict clinical performance in patients using multicontrast MRI data, conventional MRI measures as well as demographic and behavioral data as covariates. Results Quantitative T2 and T2* relaxometry were significantly increased in temporal normal-appearing white matter (NAWM) of patients compared to HC, indicating subtle microedema (P = 0.03 and 0.004). Furthermore, significant T1 and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) variations in lesions (mean T1 z-score: 4.42 and mean MTR z-score: −4.09) suggested substantial tissue loss. Combinations of multicontrast and conventional MRI data significantly predicted cognitive fatigue (P = 0.01, Adj-R2 = 0.4), attention (P = 0.0005, Adj-R2 = 0.6), and disability (P = 0.03, Adj-R2 = 0.4). Conclusion Advanced MRI techniques at 3T, unraveled the nature of brain tissue damage in early MS and substantially improved clinical–radiological correlations in patients with minor deficits, as compared to conventional measures of disease. date: 2014-06 date_type: published publication: Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology volume: 1 number: 6 publisher: Wiley pagerange: 423-432 id_number: 10.1002/acn3.68 refereed: TRUE issn: 2328-9503 official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/acn3.68 citation: Bonnier, Guillaume and Roche, Alexis and Romascano, David and Simioni, Samanta and Meskaldji, Djalel-Eddine and Rotzinger, David and Lin, Ying-Chia and Menegaz, Gloria and Schluep, Myriam and Du Pasquier, Renaud and Sumpf, Tilman Johannes and Frahm, Jens and Thiran, Jean-Philippe and Krueger, Gunnar and Granziera, Cristina Advanced MRI unravels the nature of tissue alterations in early multiple sclerosis. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology, 1 (6). pp. 423-432. ISSN 2328-9503 (2014) document_url: http://eprints.imtlucca.it/2423/1/Annals_Clin_Transl_Neur_Lin_2014.pdf