Sushmita Datta¹, Koushik A Govindarajan¹, Stacey S. Cofield², Gary R. Cutter², Fred D. Lublin³, Jerry S. Wolinsky⁴, and Ponnada A. Narayana^1
1Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States,²Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, United States, ³The Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York, New York, United States, ⁴Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a heterogeneous disease with variable disease course. This poses a challenge in identifying predictors of the disease course in individual patients. Cortical thinning is one of the measures that may have predictive value. We have estimated cortical thickness using high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a large cohort of 596 RRMS patients. These studies indicate that significant cortical thinning of inferior parietal gyrus, temporal pole, and supramarginal gyrus in the right hemisphere at baseline that persists at six months can predict disease status at 36 months.

Sanjeev Chawla¹, Ilya Kister², Jens Wuerfel³, E Mark Haacke⁴, Tim Sinnecker³, Jean Christophe Brisset¹, Friedemann Paul³, and Yulin Ge^1
1Radiology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States, ²Neurology, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States, ³Radiology, Universitätsmedizin Göttingen, Berlin, Germany, ⁴Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States

To characterize multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions based on iron and non-iron related pathological features, twenty-one patients underwent GRE-T2* and high-resolution quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) imaging on 7T MR system. Three morphologically distinct lesion patterns were observed. Majority of the lesions (75.0%), were hyperintense on T2* images and inconspicuous on QSM (Pattern A), few lesions (9.56%) showed hyperintensity on both T2* and QSM (Pattern B). However, some lesions (15.5%) demonstrated hypointensity on T2*/SWI images and hyperintensity on QSM (Pattern C) indicating that that these lesions encompass predominant iron content. Ultra-high field MRI may provide insights into the pathogenesis of MS lesions.

Céline Louapre¹, Sindhuja T Govindarajan¹, Costanza Giannì¹, Nancy Madigan², AS Nielsen³, RP Kinkel⁴, and Caterina Mainero^1
1AA. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, MA, United States, ²Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States, ³Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle, WA, United States, ⁴University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, United States

This study aims at determining the relation between nueropsychological performance in patients with multiple sclerosis and cortical tissue damage at different depths through the cortical width up to the juxta-cortical white matter, across the whole brain. Therefore, we use a quantitative, surface-based analysis of T₂* relaxation rates from ultra high resolution 7 Tesla MRI.

Eung Yeop Kim¹, Joon Yul Choi², Yoonho Nam², Se-Hong Oh³, and Jongho Lee^2
1Department of Radiology, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Incheon, Korea, ²Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, ³Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, United States

The signal characteristics of myelin water in vasogenic edema is investigated and the results were compared with those of demyelination lesions.

Matthew Fronheiser¹, Jenny Xie¹, Elizabeth Heimrich¹, Adrienne Pena¹, Thomas Petrone¹, Daniel Kukral¹, Vojkan Susulic¹, Harold Malone¹, Patrick Chow¹, Shuyan Du¹, Feng Lu¹, Wendy Hayes¹, and Haiying Tang^1
1Bristol Myers Squibb, Princeton, New Jersey, United States

In this work, ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide (USPIO) nanoparticle enhanced MRI techniques were used to assess brain inflammatory lesions in a mouse model of Relapsing-Remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Three groups (No disease, Disease No Treatment, Disease Treatment) were studied at four time points to monitor the relapsing and remitting phases of the disease. Pixel-wise R2 and Change in R2 (ΔR2) maps were generated to evaluate regions of increased USPIO uptake in the brain. Our results showed that USPIO enhanced MRI can be used to assess changes in the inflammatory lesion to examine treatment effect in a MS mouse model.

Elisabetta Pagani¹, Maria A. Rocca^1,2, Alvino Bisecco¹, Laura Mancini³, Christian Enzinger⁴, Antonio Gallo⁵, Hugo Vrenken⁶, Maria Laura Stromillo⁷, Massimiliano Copetti¹, David Thomas³, Franz Fazekas⁴, Gioacchino Tedeschi⁵, Frederik Barkhof⁶, Nicola De Stefano⁷, Massimo Filippi^1,2, and for the MAGNIMS Network^8
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, MI, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, MI, Italy, ³UCLH NHS Foundation Trust, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK, United Kingdom, ⁴Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, A, Austria, ⁵MRI Center “SUN-FISM", Second University of Naples, Naples, NA, Italy, ⁶Department of Radiology, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Netherlands, ⁷Department of Neurological and Behavioral Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, SI, Italy, ⁸EU, EU, Italy

The thalamus is a complex structure, organized in nuclear groups with specific functions and connections with cortical and subcortical areas. This is why studying the whole thalamus could be inadequate to explain deficits of specific functions. In this multicenter study, we performed tractography-based parcellation of the thalamus and its white matter connections to investigate the relationship between thalamic connectivity abnormalities and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS). Cognitive impaired patients had more relevant microstructural damage of motor, post-central and occipital connected thalamic regions, reflecting prominent gray matter damage. Cortico-thalamic disconnection is, at various levels, implicated in cognitive dysfunction in MS.

Elisabetta Pagani¹, Maria A. Rocca^1,2, Sara Llufriu^1,3, Gianna Carla Riccitelli¹, Bruno Colombo², Mariaemma Rodegher², Andrea Falini⁴, Giancarlo Comi², and Massimo Filippi^1,2
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, MI, Italy, ²Department of Neurology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, MI, Italy, ³Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Barcelona, E, Spain, ⁴Department of Neuroradiology, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, MI, Italy

Memory dysfunction is frequently present in patients with multiple sclerosis and diffusion tensor imaging enables to define and quantify structural damage in networks involved in memory performance. In this study, we quantified structural connectivity integrity of the hippocampal-related episodic memory network and its association with memory performance in multiple sclerosis patients. We found that the network is globally impaired in patients, even if it maintains a configuration in which the thalamus and parietal lobes show the highest strength. The integrity of this network seems relevant for preserving memory functions.

Francesco Grussu¹, Torben Schneider¹, Richard L. Yates², Mohamed Tachrount³, Jia Newcombe⁴, Hui Zhang⁵, Daniel C. Alexander⁵, Gabriele C. DeLuca², and Claudia A. M. Wheeler-Kingshott^1
1NMR Research Unit, Department of Neuroinflammation, Queen Square MS Centre, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, England, United Kingdom,²Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom, ³Department of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, England, United Kingdom, ⁴NeuroResource, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, England, United Kingdom,⁵Department of Computer Science and Centre for Medical Image Computing, University College London, London, England, United Kingdom

Neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) is a model-based diffusion MRI technique that has shown promising results in the multiple sclerosis (MS) brain. Here, we investigate its potential for the spinal cord, which can have a high lesion load in MS. We perform NODDI analysis on an ex vivo specimen of MS lumbar spinal cord at 9.4 T, and compare results to quantitative histological features from the same sample. We conclude that NODDI replicates the trends of the histological indices, detecting specific features of abnormal tissue, and therefore is potentially useful for spinal cord imaging in MS.

Yong Wang^1,2, Peng Sun¹, Qing Wang¹, Kathryn Trinkaus³, Robert T. Naismith⁴, Robert E. Schmidt⁴, Anne H. Cross^2,4, and Sheng-Kwei Song^1,2
1Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ²Hope Center for neurological Disorders, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ³Biostatistics, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States, ⁴Neurology, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, United States

Accurately characterizing and quantifying the pathological composition within multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions can provide important evidence and information to better assess disease severity, monitor progression and evaluate treatment effects. However available conventional and quantitative MRI is incapable to distinguish pathological components within MS lesions. Against this background, diffusion basis spectrum imaging (DBSI) was recently developed to simultaneously quantify axonal injury, demyelination and inflammation. This study found that DBSI metrics and quantitative histology measured the same pathological characteristics, and DBSI can quantitatively characterize pathological compositions for different MS lesion types, a task yet to be demonstrated by other neuroimaging approaches.

Mark J. Lowe¹, Wanyong Shin¹, Lael Stone², Robert Bermel², and Micheal D. Phillips^1
1Imaging Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States, ²Neurologic Insititute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, United States

It is known that multiple sclerosis results in decreased cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen and blood flow. Both of these are critical elements in cerebrovascular reactivity to neuronal activation. Using simultaneous BOLD/ASL, we measured BOLD activation during a visual task and cerebrovascular reactivity using a hypercapnia challenge in a cohort of multiple sclerosis patients and matched control subjects. We show that the cerebrovascular coupling is significantly different in multiple sclerosis patients.