• Joonmi Oh, Eric T Han, Michael C Lee, Sarah J Nelson, and Daniel Pelletier.
• Department of Radiology, University of California, San Francisco, California 94117, USA.
• J Neuroimaging. 2007 Apr 1; 17 (2): 156-63.

PurposeTo evaluate a multislice nonlinearly-spaced 12-echo imaging sequence at 3T covering the supratentorial brain for the quantification of myelin water fraction (MWF) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.MethodsEighty-nine patients with, or at risk of, MS (69 relapsing remitting MS [RRMS], 7 secondary progressive MS [SPMS], 13 clinically isolated syndrome [CIS]) and 28 controls were studied. Twelve-echo datasets were acquired using a multislice T2 prep spiral imaging sequence and were fitted using a nonnegative least squares algorithm. The mean MWF within normal appearing white matter (NAWM), contrast-enhancing (CE), and nonenhancing T2 lesions were calculated.ResultsMean MWF in white matter for controls was 11.3%. Mean MWF was significantly reduced in NAWM of MS patients (10.6%, P= .004) relative to controls. SPMS/RRMS patients with disease duration >5 years (10.3%) had lower MWF compared to CIS/RRMS with disease duration ConclusionsUsing a multicomponent T2 sequence at 3T, a significant decrease in the supratentorial MWF was observed in MS NAWM and lesions relative to controls. The method was sensitive to detect white matter changes early in the disease process.

20 keywords...

hide…