White-matter-nulled MPRAGE at 7T reveals thalamic lesions and atrophy of specific thalamic nuclei in multiple sclerosis.
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ABSTRACT: Background
Investigating the degeneration of specific thalamic nuclei in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains challenging.Methods
White-matter-nulled (WMn) MPRAGE, MP-FLAIR, and standard T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed on MS patients (n = 15) and matched controls (n = 12). Thalamic lesions were counted in individual sequences and lesion contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured. Volumes of 12 thalamic nuclei were measured using an automatic segmentation pipeline specifically developed for WMn-MPRAGE.Results
WMn-MPRAGE showed more thalamic MS lesions (n = 35 in 9 out of 15 patients) than MP-FLAIR (n = 25) and standard T1 (n = 23), which was associated with significant improvement of CNR (p < 0.0001). MS patients had whole thalamus atrophy (p = 0.003) with lower volumes found for the anteroventral (p < 0.001), the pulvinar (p < 0.0001), and the habenular (p = 0.004) nuclei.Conclusion
WMn-MPRAGE and automatic thalamic segmentation can highlight thalamic MS lesions and measure patterns of focal thalamic atrophy.
SUBMITTER: Planche V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6685761 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
White-matter-nulled MPRAGE at 7T reveals thalamic lesions and atrophy of specific thalamic nuclei in multiple sclerosis.
Planche Vincent V Su Jason H JH Mournet Sandy S Saranathan Manojkumar M Dousset Vincent V Han May M Rutt Brian K BK Tourdias Thomas T
Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) 20190207 8
<h4>Background</h4>Investigating the degeneration of specific thalamic nuclei in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains challenging.<h4>Methods</h4>White-matter-nulled (WMn) MPRAGE, MP-FLAIR, and standard T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed on MS patients (<i>n</i> = 15) and matched controls (<i>n</i> = 12). Thalamic lesions were counted in individual sequences and lesion contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured. Volumes of 12 thalamic nuclei were measured using an automatic s ...[more]
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