Iron deposition of the deep grey matter in patients with multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica: a control quantitative study by 3D-enhanced susceptibility-weighted angiography (ESWAN).

Purpose: Previous studies have detected abnormal iron deposition in the deep grey matter (DGM) of multiple sclerosis (MS). The regional specificity of the DGM iron deposition in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is still unclear. We compared the differences in the DGM iron concentration between MS and NMO patients.

Methods: We enrolled 42 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients, 42 NMO patients and 42 healthy controls undergoing brain conventional MRI and three-dimensional (3D)-enhanced T(2)*-weighted angiography (ESWAN) sequences. We obtained the mean phase values (MPVs) for ESWAN-filtered phase images. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare MPVs among three groups. The correlations of MPVs changes with disease duration and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) were analyzed.

Results: The RRMS patients had higher DGM iron concentration than did the NMO and control groups, but only the bilateral substantia nigra (SN) showed a significant statistical difference among three groups (p<0.05). In the RRMS group, the iron concentration in the bilateral head of the caudate nucleus (HCN) (left: p<0.0001; right: p=0.0134) and the dentate nucleus (DN) (p<0.05 for both) were correlated with disease duration. In the NMO group, no correlation was found between the DGM iron concentration and disease duration (p>0.05). Furthermore, no correlations were found between the DGM iron concentration and EDSS (p>0.05).

Conclusions: We confirm the iron concentration in the DGM iron content of MS patients is more than NMO patients and healthy controls in the same age range. Furthermore, the disease duration was found to be a significant contributor to patients with MS.