Association of retinal vessel pathology and brain atrophy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Background: Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) allows non-invasive assessment of retinal vessel structures. Thinning and loss of retinal vessels is evident in eyes of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and might be associated with a proinflammatory disease phenotype and worse prognosis. We investigated whether changes of the retinal vasculature are linked to brain atrophy and disability in MS.

Regulation of the programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 axis in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

The programmed cell death protein 1/programmed cell death ligand 1 axis plays an important role in the adaptive immune system and has influence on neoplastic and inflammatory diseases, while its role in multiple sclerosis is unclear. Here, we aimed to analyse expression patterns of programmed cell death protein 1 and programmed cell death ligand 1 on peripheral blood mononuclear cells and their soluble variants in multiple sclerosis patients and controls, to determine their correlation with clinical disability and disease activity. In a cross-sectional study, we performed in-depth flow cytometric immunophenotyping of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and analysed soluble programmed cell death protein 1 and programmed cell death ligand 1 serum levels in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and controls.

Prognostic value of spinal cord lesion measures in early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Background: Spinal cord (SC) lesions have been associated with unfavourable clinical outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the relation of whole SC lesion number (SCLN) and volume (SCLV) to the future occurrence and type of confirmed disability accumulation (CDA) remains largely unexplored.

Methods: In this monocentric retrospective study, SC lesions were manually delineated.

Retrospective cohort study to devise a treatment decision score predicting adverse 24-month radiological activity in early multiple sclerosis.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neuroinflammatory disease affecting about 2.8 million people worldwide. Disease course after the most common diagnoses of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) is highly variable and cannot be reliably predicted.

Lesion location across diagnostic regions in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Lesions in the periventricular, (juxta)cortical, and infratentorial region, as visible on brain MRI, are part of the diagnostic criteria for Multiple sclerosis (MS) whereas lesions in the subcortical region are currently only a marker of disease activity. It is unknown whether MS lesions follow individual spatial patterns or whether they occur in a random manner across diagnostic regions.

Aim: First, to describe cross-sectionally the spatial lesion patterns in patients with MS.

Percentage brain volume change in multiple sclerosis mainly reflects white matter and cortical volume.

Brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS), as measured by percentage brain volume change (PBVC) from brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), has been established as an outcome parameter in clinical trials. It is unknown to what extent volume changes within different brain tissue compartments contribute to PBVC. We analyzed pairs of MRI scans (at least 6 months apart) in 600 patients with relapsing-remitting MS.

Somatosensory evoked potentials and magnetic resonance imaging of the central nervous system in early multiple sclerosis.

Background: Somatosensory evoked potentials (SSEP) are still broadly used, although not explicitly recommended, for the diagnostic work-up of suspected multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To relate disability, SSEP, and lesions on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with early MS.

Methods: In this monocentric retrospective study, we analyzed a cohort of patients with relapsing-remitting MS or clinically isolated syndrome, with a maximum disease duration of two years, as well as with available data on the score at the expanded disability status scale (EDSS), on SSEP, on whole spinal cord (SC) MRI, and on brain MRI.

Multiple sclerosis lesions and atrophy in the spinal cord: Distribution across vertebral levels and correlation with disability.

Background: The vast majority of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies on multiple sclerosis (MS) covered the spinal cord (SC), if at all, incompletely.

Objective: To assess SC involvement in MS, as detectable by whole SC MRI, with regard to distribution across vertebral levels and relation to clinical phenotypes and disability.

Methods: We investigated SC MRI with sagittal and axial coverage.

Gray matter atrophy in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis is associated with white matter lesions in connecting fibers.

Background: Lesions of brain white matter (WM) and atrophy of brain gray matter (GM) are well-established surrogate parameters in multiple sclerosis (MS), but it is unclear how closely these parameters relate to each other.

Objective: To assess across the whole cerebrum whether GM atrophy can be explained by lesions in connecting WM tracts.

Methods: GM images of 600 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (women = 68%; median age = 33.

Cognitive impairment in early MS: contribution of white matter lesions, deep grey matter atrophy, and cortical atrophy.

Background: Cognitive impairment (CI) is a frequent and debilitating symptom in MS. To better understand the neural bases of CI in MS, this magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study aimed to identify and quantify related structural brain changes and to investigate their relation to each other.

Methods: We studied 51 patients with CI and 391 patients with cognitive preservation (CP).

Deep-Learning Generated Synthetic Double Inversion Recovery Images Improve Multiple Sclerosis Lesion Detection.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to implement a deep-learning tool to produce synthetic double inversion recovery (synthDIR) images and compare their diagnostic performance to conventional sequences in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Materials And Methods: For this retrospective analysis, 100 MS patients (65 female, 37 [22-68] years) were randomly selected from a prospective observational cohort between 2014 and 2016. In a subset of 50 patients, an artificial neural network (DiamondGAN) was trained to generate a synthetic DIR (synthDIR) from standard acquisitions (T1, T2, and fluid-attenuated inversion recovery [FLAIR]).

Prognostic value of white matter lesion shrinking in early multiple sclerosis: An intuitive or naïve notion?

Background And Purpose: New or enlarging T2-hyperintense white matter lesions (WML) are associated with clinical disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). The prognostic value of WML shrinking is unclear. Assuming that waning of acute inflammation and repair processes would be the main drivers of WML shrinking, we aimed to assess the prognostic value of WML shrinking in early MS.

Automated segmentation of changes in FLAIR-hyperintense white matter lesions in multiple sclerosis on serial magnetic resonance imaging.

Longitudinal analysis of white matter lesion changes on serial MRI has become an important parameter to study diseases with white-matter lesions. Here, we build on earlier work on cross-sectional lesion segmentation; we present a fully automatic pipeline for serial analysis of FLAIR-hyperintense white matter lesions. Our algorithm requires three-dimensional gradient echo T1- and FLAIR- weighted images at 3 Tesla as well as available cross-sectional lesion segmentations of both time points.

Accuracy of Unenhanced MRI in the Detection of New Brain Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis.

Background Administration of a gadolinium-based contrast material is widely considered obligatory for follow-up imaging of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, advances in MRI have substantially improved the sensitivity for detecting new or enlarged lesions in MS. Purpose To investigate whether the use of contrast material has an effect on the detection of new or enlarged MS lesions and, consequently, the assessment of interval progression.

The Trail Making test: a study of its ability to predict falls in the acute neurological in-patient population.

Objective: To determine whether tests of cognitive function and patient-reported outcome measures of motor function can be used to create a machine learning-based predictive tool for falls.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary neurological and neurosurgical center.