Publications by authors named "Benedetta Bodini"
Objective: The 2017 McDonald criteria continued the separation of diagnostic criteria for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS) for historical, rather than biological, reasons. We aimed to explore the feasibility of a single, unified set of diagnostic criteria when applied to patients with suspected PPMS.
Methods: We retrospectively identified patients evaluated for suspected PPMS at 5 European centers.
Background And Objectives: The dynamics of microstructural spinal cord (SC) damage and repair in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) and their clinical relevance have yet to be explored. We set out to describe patient-specific profiles of microstructural SC damage and change during the first year after MS diagnosis and to investigate their associations with disability and SC atrophy at 5 years.
Methods: We performed a longitudinal monocentric cohort study among patients with relapsing-remitting MS: first relapse <1 year, no relapse <1 month, and high initial severity on MRI (>9 T2 lesions on brain MRI and/or initial myelitis).
Prognosis of patients with multiple sclerosis associated with uveitis.
Mult Scler Relat Disord
October 2023
Article Synopsis
Introduction: Recent evidence suggests the blood-to-brain influx rate ( ) in imaging as a promising biomarker of blood-brain barrier () permeability alterations commonly associated with peripheral inflammation and heightened immune activity in the brain. However, standard compartmental modeling quantification is limited by the requirement of invasive and laborious procedures for extracting an arterial blood input function. In this study, we validate a simplified blood-free methodologic framework for estimation by fitting the early phase tracer dynamics using a single irreversible compartment model and an image-derived input function ().
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: In October 2020, the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) consensus statement for management of patients with neurological diseases during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was published. Due to important changes and developments that have happened since then, the need has arisen to critically reassess the original recommendations and address new challenges.
Methods: In step 1, the original items were critically reviewed by the EAN COVID-19 Task Force.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to evaluate the relationship between oxygen supply and myelin damage in the brain by simultaneously measuring myelin and cerebral blood flow (CBF) using dynamic [11C]PiB PET scans.* -
- Eight healthy subjects underwent two PET scans to compare three quantitative analysis methods for CBF and myelin content, focusing on the impact of region size and assessing reproducibility and intercorrelations between metrics.* -
- Results indicated that the SRTM2 method was the most reliable for CBF measurement in white matter, showing lower blood flow in white compared to grey matter and revealing important interactions between region size and measurement reliability.*
Objective: To evaluate: (1) the distribution of gray matter (GM) atrophy in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), aquaporin-4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4+NMOSD), and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS); and (2) the relationship between GM volumes and white matter lesions in various brain regions within each disease.
Methods: A retrospective, multicenter analysis of magnetic resonance imaging data included patients with MOGAD/AQP4+NMOSD/RRMS in non-acute disease stage. Voxel-wise analyses and general linear models were used to evaluate the relevance of regional GM atrophy.
Background: Respiratory disorders remain incompletely described in multiple sclerosis (MS), even though they are a frequent cause of death.
Methods: The objective was to describe respiratory disorders in MS patients with Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS) ⩾ 6.5.
The inability of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS) to undergo spontaneous regeneration has long been regarded as a central tenet of neurobiology. However, while this is largely true of the neuronal elements of the adult mammalian CNS, save for discrete populations of granule neurons, the same is not true of its glial elements. In particular, the loss of oligodendrocytes, which results in demyelination, triggers a spontaneous and often highly efficient regenerative response, remyelination, in which new oligodendrocytes are generated and myelin sheaths are restored to denuded axons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- This study investigated cortical demyelination and remyelination in 140 MS patients over 5 years using magnetization transfer imaging (MTI), revealing significant changes in myelin content.
- Results showed that the degree of cortical demyelination was associated with increased cortical atrophy and clinical progression, regardless of age or MS type.
- Although remyelination occurred in many patients, it was less successful near cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) areas, indicating that effective repair processes may not fully prevent disease progression.
Purpose: MP2RAGE parameter optimization is redefined to allow more time-efficient MR acquisitions, whereas the T -based synthetic imaging framework is used to obtain on-demand T -weighted contrasts. Our aim was to validate this concept on healthy volunteers and patients with multiple sclerosis, using plug-and-play parallel-transmission brain imaging at 7 T.
Methods: A "time-efficient" MP2RAGE sequence was designed with optimized parameters including TI and TR set as small as possible.
Background And Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted health systems worldwide. Here, we assessed the pandemic's impact on clinical service, curricular training, and financial burden from a neurological viewpoint during the enforced lockdown periods and the assumed recovery by 2023.
Methods: An online 18-item survey was conducted by the European Academy of Neurology (EAN) NeuroCOVID-19 Task Force among the EAN community.
Objective: To determine the prognostic value of persisting neuroinflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, we developed a 18 kDa-translocator-protein-positron emission tomography (PET) -based classification of each lesion according to innate immune cell content and localization. We assessed the respective predictive value of lesion phenotype and diffuse inflammation on atrophy and disability progression over 2 years.
Methods: Thirty-six people with MS (disease duration 9 ± 6 years; 12 with relapsing-remitting, 13 with secondary-progressive, and 11 with primary-progressive) and 19 healthy controls (HCs) underwent a dynamic [ F]-DPA-714-PET.
MRI and clinical features of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-antibody disease may overlap with those of other inflammatory demyelinating conditions posing diagnostic challenges, especially in non-acute phases and when serologic testing for MOG antibodies is unavailable or shows uncertain results. We aimed to identify MRI and clinical markers that differentiate non-acute MOG-antibody disease from aquaporin 4 (AQP4)-antibody neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, guiding in the identification of patients with MOG-antibody disease in clinical practice. In this cross-sectional retrospective study, data from 16 MAGNIMS centres were included.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDetecting new lesions is a key aspect of the radiological follow-up of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), leading to eventual changes in their therapeutics. This paper presents our contribution to the MSSEG-2 MICCAI 2021 challenge. The challenge is focused on the segmentation of new MS lesions using two consecutive Fluid Attenuated Inversion Recovery (FLAIR) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImaging Characteristics of Choroid Plexuses in Presymptomatic Multiple Sclerosis: A Retrospective Study.
Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm
November 2022
Background And Objectives: Recent imaging studies have suggested a possible involvement of the choroid plexus (CP) in multiple sclerosis (MS). Here, we investigated whether CP changes are already detectable at the earliest stage of MS, preceding symptom onset.
Methods: This study is a retrospective analysis of 27 patients with presymptomatic MS, 97 patients with clinically definite MS (CDMS), and 53 healthy controls (HCs) who underwent a cross-sectional 3T-MRI acquisition; of which, 22 MS, 19 HCs, and 1 presymptomatic MS (evaluated 8 months before conversion to CDMS) also underwent translocator protein (TSPO) F-DPA-714 PET and were included in the analysis.
Article Synopsis
- Spontaneous remyelination in multiple sclerosis is inconsistent and varies greatly, both among different patients and within an individual’s lesions, indicating localized factors that hinder myelin repair.
- The study utilized advanced imaging techniques, including longitudinal 11C-PiB PET scans and magnetization transfer MRI, on two separate groups to track myelin repair and its relationship with neurodegeneration.
- Results revealed a specific failure in remyelination of periventricular white matter lesions, linked to proximity to the brain-CSF barrier and correlated with neuroinflammatory markers and reduced thalamic volume, suggesting connections between myelin repair failure and neurodegeneration.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to assess the importance of changes in myelin content in both cortical and white matter lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) using two imaging techniques: magnetisation transfer imaging (MTI) and 11C-PiB-PET.
- Researchers analyzed data from 19 MS patients and 7 healthy controls over a follow-up period of 2-4 months, creating individual maps to calculate levels of demyelination and remyelination.
- Results showed that greater remyelination correlated with shorter disease duration and significantly influenced clinical scores, suggesting that these personalized myelin indices could improve the evaluation of potential treatments in clinical trials.
Article Synopsis
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) disability is linked to three main issues: problems with remyelination, ongoing inflammation from microglia, and neurodegeneration.
- Research aims to uncover how these mechanisms work together and develop advanced imaging techniques to study them in living subjects.
- Current clinical trials are exploring treatments focused on remyelination, protecting nerves, and managing inflammation, but there’s still a need for better methods and clear objectives in these studies.
Background And Purpose: Health risks associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection are undisputed. Moreover, the capability of vaccination to prevent symptomatic, severe, and fatal COVID-19 is recognized. There is also early evidence that vaccination can reduce the chance for long COVID-19.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Lesion remyelination preserves axonal integrity in animal models of multiple sclerosis (MS), but an in vivo demonstration of its protective effect on surrounding tissues in humans is lacking.
Methods: Nineteen persons with MS were enrolled in a cohort study and underwent two positron emission tomography (PET)/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans 1-4 months apart. Voxelwise maps of Pittsburgh compound B distribution volume ratio, reflecting myelin content, were used to calculate an index of baseline demyelination, and of dynamic demyelination and remyelination over the follow-up in 549 single white matter lesions.
Article Synopsis
- * Evidence shows that relapses and MRI-detected focal activity are not strong predictors of long-term disability progression in MS, indicating that disability can accumulate independently of these events.
- * We propose that effective MS treatment should go beyond targeting inflammation and focus on broader brain and spinal cord processes, alongside managing other systemic health issues to improve patient outcomes.
Article Synopsis
- The development of effective treatments for progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) is crucial, as current therapies focus mainly on relapsing-remitting MS and do not address long-term disability.
- Understanding neuro-axonal degeneration, which drives clinical progression, is essential for creating new therapies, and PET imaging technology can help in tracking and measuring related pathological processes in the brain during the disease.
- This review highlights how PET imaging enhances our knowledge of both extraneuronal and intraneuronal damage mechanisms in MS, discusses challenges faced in using PET for clinical purposes, and explores the potential of new PET tracers to identify neuroprotective treatments.
Background And Purpose: The European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA), in partnership with the NeuroCOVID-19 taskforce of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), has investigated the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals with neurological diseases, as well as the hopes and fears of these patients about the post-pandemic phase.
Methods: An EFNA-EAN survey was available online to any person living with a neurological disorder in Europe. It consisted of 18 items concerning the impact of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic on the medical care of people with neurological disorders, and the hopes and fears of these individuals regarding the post-pandemic phase.