• Martijn D Steenwijk, Hugo Vrenken, Laura E Jonkman, Marita Daams, Jeroen Jg Geurts, Frederik Barkhof, and Petra Jw Pouwels.
• Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Department of Physics and Medical Technology, Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands m.steenwijk@vumc.nl.
• Mult. Scler. 2016 Sep 1; 22 (10): 1279-88.

BackgroundGray matter (GM) pathology has high clinical relevance in multiple sclerosis (MS), but conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is insufficiently sensitive to visualize the rather subtle damage.ObjectiveTo investigate whether high spatial resolution T1-relaxation time (T1-RT) measurements can detect changes in the normal-appearing GM of patients with long-standing MS and whether these changes are associated with physical and cognitive impairment.MethodsHigh spatial resolution (1.05 × 1.05 × 1.2 mm(3)) T1-RT measurements were performed at 3 T in 156 long-standing MS patients and 54 healthy controls. T1-RT histogram parameters in several regions were analyzed to investigate group differences. Stepwise linear regression analyses were used to assess the relation of T1-RT with physical and cognitive impairment.ResultsIn both thalamus and cortex, T1-RT histogram skewness was higher in patients than controls. In the cortex, this was driven by the frontal and temporal lobes. No differences were found in other GM histogram parameters. Cortical skewness, thalamus volume, and average white matter (WM) lesion T1-RT emerged as the strongest predictors for cognitive performance (adjusted R(2) = 0.39).ConclusionSubtle GM damage was present in the cortex and thalamus of MS patients, as indicated by increased T1-RT skewness. Increased cortical skewness emerged as an independent predictor of cognitive dysfunction.© The Author(s), 2015.

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