title: MR-elastography reveals degradation of tissue integrity in multiple sclerosis.
abstract: In multiple sclerosis (MS), diffuse brain parenchymal damage exceeding focal inflammation is increasingly recognized to be present from the very onset of the disease, and, although occult to conventional imaging techniques, may present a major cause of permanent neurological disability. Subtle tissue alterations significantly influence biomechanical properties given by stiffness and internal friction, that--in more accessible organs than the brain--are traditionally assessed by manual palpation during the clinical exam. The brain, however, is protected from our sense of touch, and thus our current knowledge on cerebral viscoelasticity is very limited. We developed a clinically feasible magnetic resonance elastography setup sensitive to subtle alterations of brain parenchymal biomechanical properties. Investigating 45 MS patients revealed a significant decrease (13%, P<0.001) of cerebral viscoelasticity compared to matched healthy volunteers, indicating a widespread tissue integrity degradation, while structure-geometry defining parameters remained unchanged. Cerebral viscoelasticity may represent a novel in vivo marker of neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative pathology.
authors.affiliation: Cecilie Vogt Clinic for Neurology, Charité - University Medicine Berlin and Max-Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany. jens.wuerfel@uk-sh.de
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wuerfel
authors.forename: Friedemann
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Beierbach
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hamhaber
authors.forename: Dieter
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Klatt
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Papazoglou
authors.forename: Frauke
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zipp
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martus
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Braun
authors.forename: Ingolf
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sack
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult