White matter hyperintensities and dynamics of postural control.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on MRI have been associated with age, cardiovascular risk factors and falls in the elderly. This study evaluated the relationship between WMHs and dynamics of postural control in older adults without history of falls.

Methods: We studied 76 community-living subjects without history of falls (age 64.

Perivascular spaces--MRI marker of inflammatory activity in the brain?

The Virchow-Robin spaces (VRS), perivascular compartments surrounding small blood vessels as they penetrate the brain parenchyma, are increasingly recognized for their role in leucocyte trafficking as well as for their potential to modulate immune responses. In the present study, we investigated VRS numbers and volumes in different brain regions in 45 multiple sclerosis patients and 30 healthy controls of similar age and gender distribution, applying three different MRI sequence modalities (T(2)-weighted, T(1)-weighted and FLAIR). VRS were detected in comparable numbers in both multiple sclerosis patients and healthy individuals, indicating that perivascular compartments present on MRI are not a unique feature of multiple sclerosis.

Oral high-dose atorvastatin treatment in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Background: Recent data from animal models of multiple sclerosis (MS) and from a pilot study indicated a possible beneficial impact of statins on MS.

Methodology/principal Findings: Safety, tolerability and effects on disease activity of atorvastatin given alone or in combination with interferon-beta (IFN-beta) were assessed in a phase II open-label baseline-to-treatment trial in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS). Patients with at least one gadolinium-enhancing lesion (CEL) at screening by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were eligible for the study.