Clinical Progression In Multiple Sclerosis Research Articles

Predicting Clinical Progression in Multiple Sclerosis With the Magnetic Resonance Disease Severity Scale

Predicting Clinical Progression in Multiple Sclerosis With the Magnetic Resonance Disease Severity Scale

Predicting Clinical Progression in Multiple Sclerosis With the Magnetic Resonance Disease Severity Scale

Individual magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) disease severity measures, such as atrophy or lesions, show weak relationships to clinical status in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). To combine MS-MRI measures of disease severity into a composite score. Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. Community-based and referral subspecialty clinic in an academic hospital. A total of 103 patients with MS, with a mean (SD) Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score of 3.3 (2.2), of whom 62 (60.2%) had the relapsing-remitting, 33 (32.0%) the secondary progressive, and 8 (7.8%) the primary progressive form. Brain MRI measures included baseline T2 hyperintense (T2LV) and T1 hypointense (T1LV) lesion volume and brain parenchymal fraction (BPF), a marker of global atrophy. The ratio of T1LV to T2LV (T1:T2) assessed lesion severity. A Magnetic Resonance Disease Severity Scale (MRDSS) score, on a continuous scale from 0 to 10, was derived for each patient using T2LV, BPF, and T1:T2. The MRDSS score averaged 5.1 (SD, 2.6). Baseline MRI and EDSS correlations were moderate for BPF, T1:T2, and MRDSS and weak for T2LV. The MRDSS showed a larger effect size than the individual MRI components in distinguishing patients with the relapsing-remitting form from those with the secondary progressive form. Models containing either T2LV or MRDSS were significantly associated with disability progression during the mean (SD) 3.2 (0.3)-year observation period, when adjusting for baseline EDSS score. Combining brain MRI lesion and atrophy measures can predict MS clinical progression and provides the basis for developing an MRI-based continuous scale as a marker of MS disease severity.

Serum homocysteine levels in relation to clinical progression in multiple sclerosis

Background: Elevated homocysteine levels are associated with various neurodegenerative diseases and have even been identified as a risk factor for some of these. Homocysteine levels may be elevated in patients...

Poster Abstract #14: Magnetic Resonance Disease Severity Scale (MRDSS) Predicts Clinical Progression in Multiple Sclerosis

Objective Combine MRI measures of disease severity into a composite score in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Background Brain MRI lesion and atrophy measures assessed individually have fairly weak ability to predict clinical progression in MS. Methods In the Comprehensive Longitudinal Investigation of MS at Brigham, we studied 103 patients [age (mean ± SD) 42.7 ± 9.1 years, disease duration 14.1 ± 9.2 years, Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score 3.3 ± 2.2, 60% (n = 62) relapsing–remitting (RR), 32% (n = 33) secondary progressive (SP), and 8% (n = 8) primary progressive]. Brain MRI measures included baseline T2 hyperintense (T2LV) and T1 hypointense (T1LV) lesion volume, and brain parenchymal fraction (BPF), a marker of global atrophy. The ratio of T1LV to T2LV assessed lesion severity. A Magnetic Resonance Disease Severity Scale (MRDSS) score, on a continuous scale from 0 to 10, was derived for each patient using T2LV, BPF, and T1/T2 ratio. Results MRDSS score averaged 5.1 ± 2.6. Baseline MRI and EDSS correlations were moderate for BPF, T1/T2, and MRDSS and weak for T2LV. MRDSS showed a larger effect size than any of the individual MRI components in distinguishing RR from SP patients. Models containing either T2LV or MRDSS were significantly associated with EDSS disability progression during the 3.2 ± 0.3 year observation period, when adjusting for baseline EDSS score. Conclusions These results show that combining brain MRI lesion and atrophy measures can predict clinical progression in patients with MS and provide the basis to develop an MRI-based continuous scale as a marker of MS disease severity.

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NIH Grant Watch

An update on neuroimaging of multiple sclerosis.

The advent of magnetic resonance imaging provided a powerful tool for monitoring the dynamics of pathological changes in multiple sclerosis, but conventional approaches offer only limited information that is directly relevant to clinical progression. Continued developments of imaging methods and their use for diagnosis, monitoring pathology and understanding disease progression are reviewed here. Magnetic resonance imaging is now well established as a clinical test for multiple sclerosis, but the specific ways in which imaging information should best be incorporated into diagnostic criteria are still debated. New data defining the substantial pathology in grey matter, regional variation in the progression of pathology and the relationship between the spatial distribution of pathological changes and symptoms are providing an increasingly compelling description of changes relevant to disability. Molecular-imaging approaches promise much more detailed descriptions. Functional magnetic resonance imaging, which suggests that adaptive functional changes could limit clinical expression of pathology, are providing further clues to the link between measures of pathology and disability. New data further reinforce the view that pathology relevant to clinical progression of multiple sclerosis can be defined by imaging. A range of biologically more specific markers are becoming available using positron emission tomography, as well as magnetic resonance imaging.