Normal appearing white matter permeability: a marker of inflammation and information processing speed deficit among relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients.

Purpose: Blood-brain barrier breakdown (BBBB) occurs in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). Relative recirculation (rR), a BBBB surrogate, may show inflammation undetectable by gadolinium. We compared normal appearing white matter (NAWM) rR in patients with and without disability measured with Symbol Digit Modalities Test and the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).

Perfusion reduction in the absence of structural differences in cognitively impaired versus unimpaired RRMS patients.

Background: Cognitive impairment affects 40%-68% of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients. Gray matter (GM) demyelination is complicit in cognitive impairment, yet cortical lesions are challenging to image clinically. We wanted to determine whether cortical cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral blood volume (CBV), and mean transit time (MTT) differences exist between cognitively impaired (CI) and unimpaired (NI) RRMS.

Regional reduction in cortical blood flow among cognitively impaired adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients.

Purpose: Detection of cortical abnormalities in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) remains elusive. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of cortical integrity are limited, although functional techniques such as pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) show promise as a surrogate marker of disease severity. We sought to determine the utility of pCASL to assess cortical cerebral blood flow (CBF) in RRMS patients with (RRMS-I) and without (RRMS-NI) cognitive impairment.