Usefulness of SWI for the Detection of Iron in the Motor Cortex in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.

Purpose: The purpose of the present retrospective study was to evaluate the sensitivity of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) compared to conventional spin-echo T2-weighted and T2*-weighted images in detecting iron deposition in the motor cortex of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients in comparison with age-matched normal controls. We also investigated the etiology of the low signal referring to the pathology of one autopsy case.

Methods: This retrospective magnetic resonance (MR) study included 23 ALS patients and 28 age-matched normal controls.