Association of iron rim lesions with brain and cervical cord volume in relapsing multiple sclerosis.

Objectives: In multiple sclerosis (MS), iron rim lesions (IRLs) are indicators of chronic low-grade inflammation and ongoing tissue destruction. The aim of this study was to assess the relationship of IRLs with clinical measures and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) markers, in particular brain and cervical cord volume.

Methods: Clinical and MRI parameters from 102 relapsing MS patients (no relapses for at least 6 months, no contrast-enhancing lesions) were included; follow-up data obtained after 12 months was available in 49 patients.

Adaptation and Health: Are Countries with More Climate-sensitive Health Sectors More Likely to Receive Adaptation Aid?

Climate change poses a severe challenge for many developing countries, and the need to adapt has been widely recognized. Public health is one of the sectors where adaptation is necessary, as a warming climate likely affects general health conditions, the spread of various diseases, etc. Some countries are more affected by such climatic challenges, as their climate sensitivity-both to health-related issues and to climate change in general-is higher.

Homogeneous application of imaging criteria in a multicenter trial supported by investigator training: A report from the WAKE-UP study.

Background And Purpose: WAKE-UP is a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of thrombolysis in stroke with unknown time of symptom onset using magnetic resonance imaging criteria to determine patients' eligibility. As it is a multicenter trial, homogeneous interpretation of criteria is an important contributor to the trial's success. We describe the investigator image training as well as results of the quality control done by the central image reading board (CIRB).

Multi-criterial patient positioning based on dose recalculation on scatter-corrected CBCT images.

Background And Purpose: Our aim was to evaluate the feasibility and potential advantages of dose guided patient positioning based on dose recalculation on scatter corrected cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) image data.

Material And Methods: A scatter correction approach has been employed to enable dose calculations on CBCT images. A recently proposed tool for interactive multicriterial dose-guided patient positioning which uses interpolation between pre-calculated sample doses has been utilized.

Different patterns of longitudinal brain and spinal cord changes and their associations with disability progression in NMO and MS.

Objective: To investigate the longitudinal spinal cord and brain changes in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and multiple sclerosis (MS) and their associations with disability progression.

Patients And Methods: We recruited 28 NMO, 22 MS, and 20 healthy controls (HC), who underwent both spinal cord and brain MRI at baseline. Twenty-five NMO and 20 MS completed 1-year follow-up.

Relevance of early cervical cord volume loss in the disease evolution of clinically isolated syndrome and early multiple sclerosis: a 2-year follow-up study.

Unlabelled: Upper cervical cord area (UCCA) atrophy is a prognostic marker for clinical progression in longstanding multiple sclerosis (MS). The objectives of the study were to quantify UCCA atrophy and evaluate its impact in clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) and relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS); to compare converting CIS patients with stable CIS, and to study changes of UCCA and brain white matter (WM) and grey matter (GM) at 2-year follow-up. 110 therapy-naive patients including 53 CIS [6 ± 6 months after symptom onset (SO)] and 57 early RRMS (SO: 12 ± 9 months) underwent sagittal 3D-T1w brain MR (3T).

Central Atrophy Early in Multiple Sclerosis: Third Ventricle Volumetry versus Planimetry.

Background And Purpose: Cerebral atrophy has been suggested to be a reliable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) predictor of subsequent disability in all stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). However, no accepted methodology for routine clinical use exists to date. We sought an easy to apply and fast technique to evaluate cerebral ventricular volume in patients with MS with similar accuracy as a semiautomatic volumetric method.

Ultrahigh-field MPRAGE Magnetic Resonance Angiography at 7.0 T in patients with cerebrovascular disease.

Objectives: Time-of-flight (TOF) magnetic-resonance-angiography (MRA) identifies vessel pathology in cerebrovascular disease. At 7.0 T, the clinical performance of TOF-MRA is constrained owing to radio frequency power deposition.

Differential patterns of spinal cord and brain atrophy in NMO and MS.

Objective: To investigate spinal cord and brain atrophy in neuromyelitis optica (NMO), and its relationship with other MRI measurements and clinical disability, compared with patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and healthy controls (HC).

Methods: We recruited 35 patients with NMO, 35 patients with MS, and 35 HC, who underwent both spinal cord and brain MRI. Mean upper cervical cord area (MUCCA), brain parenchymal fraction (BPF), gray matter fraction (GMF), white matter fraction (WMF), and spinal cord and brain lesion loads were measured and compared among groups.

Multiple sclerosis risk loci correlate with cervical cord atrophy and may explain the course of disability.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) underscore the genetic basis of multiple sclerosis (MS); however, only few of the newly reported genetic variations relevant in MS have been replicated or correlated for clinical/paraclinical phenotypes such as spinal cord atrophy in independent patient cohorts. We genotyped 141 MS patients for 58 variations reported to reach significance in GWAS. Expanded disability status scale (EDSS) and disease duration (DD) are available from regular clinical examinations.

Mean upper cervical cord area (MUCCA) measurement in long-standing multiple sclerosis: relation to brain findings and clinical disability.

Background: The majority of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) present with spinal cord pathology. Spinal cord atrophy is thought to be a marker of disease severity, but in long-disease duration its relation to brain pathology and clinical disability is largely unknown.

Objective: Our aim was to investigate mean upper cervical cord area (MUCCA) in patients with long-standing MS and assess its relation to brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures and clinical disability.