Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging
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Spinal cord atrophy occurs early in the multiple sclerosis (MS) disease course, is closely related to physical disability, and is a putative neuroprotective therapeutic outcome measure. ⋯ In this pilot study of RRMS, GA therapy was not associated with any ongoing spinal cord atrophy or any difference in the one-year rate of spinal cord area change versus healthy controls. These results paralleled the lack of clinical worsening and may reflect a treatment effect of GA. Further studies are needed to confirm these preliminary findings.
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Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has previously been used as a biomarker of myelopathy in patients with degenerative cervical cord compression (DCCC). However, many factors may affect the diffusion properties of the spinal cord. This prospective study seeks to identify sources of variability in spinal cord DTI parameters in both DCCC patients and healthy subjects. ⋯ Diffusion parameters of the cervical spinal cord were thus shown to respond significantly to spinal cord compression, but were subject to interaction with several other factors including sex, age, and SCL. These findings may be important to the interpretation of DTI measurements in individual patients.
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The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in brain cortical thickness of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with and without episodic memory impairment and healthy controls. ⋯ Different memory-related cortical regions thinning were found in the episodic memory deficit group when individually compared to the groups of patients without memory impairment and healthy controls.
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White Matter Tract Injury is Associated with Deep Gray Matter Iron Deposition in Multiple Sclerosis.
With respect to healthy controls (HCs), increased iron concentrations in the deep gray matter (GM) and decreased white matter (WM) integrity are common findings in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The association between these features of the disease remains poorly understood. We investigated the relationship between deep iron deposition in the deep GM and WM injury in associated fiber tracts in MS patients. ⋯ Increased iron concentration in the deep GM is associated with decreased tissue integrity of the connected WM in MS patients.
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Observational Study
Transorbital Sonography and Visual Outcome for the Diagnosis and Monitoring of Optic Neuritis.
Transorbital sonography (TOS) is a promising tool to support the clinical diagnosis of optic neuritis (ON) by showing thickening of optic nerve. In this study, we aimed to define its specific role in follow-up of ON patients. ⋯ TOS is a useful tool to support diagnosis of ON. This technique seems to have less value to evaluate atrophy of the optic nerve after 12 months.