Diffusion-Tensor MR Imaging of Cortical Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis: Initial Findings

Abstract

To prospectively perform a direct measurement of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) in cortical lesions of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The study was approved by the institutional review board and was HIPAA compliant; informed consent was obtained. Magnetic resonance (MR) images, including double inversion-recovery (DIR), phase-sensitive inversion-recovery (PSIR), and diffusion-tensor images, were acquired from nine MS patients with cortical lesions (five women, four men; median age, 47 years) and nine age- and sex-matched volunteer control subjects. Following nonlinear elastically constrained image registration for aligning diffusion-weighted images to DIR images, maps of FA and MD were computed for each subject. Cortical lesions were identified on DIR images and validated by using PSIR images. The diffusion-tensor imaging maps were then overlaid on the coregistered DIR images, and mean FA and MD values were measured in regions of interest drawn on the cortical lesions. Differences between normal gray matter (GM) and cortical lesions were evaluated by using the generalized estimating equation. FA and MD histograms of whole brain and GM (global analysis) in healthy control subjects and MS patients were also computed for comparison with those in previously published studies. FA and MD values were significantly higher in cortical lesions compared with similar regions in healthy control subjects. Histogram peak FA was significantly decreased and peak MD was significantly increased in patients relative to control subjects. DIR and PSIR combined with nonlinear image registration allowed direct focal measurement of FA and MD in cortical lesions.