title: Detailing intra-lesional venous lumen shrinking in multiple sclerosis investigated by sFLAIR MRI at 7-T.
abstract: Intra-lesional venous lumen shrinking detectable by MRI was suggested as an in vivo marker of inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS). In our study mean diameters of pre-, post- and intra-lesional venous sections were determined in 49 patients with MS or clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) using a pixel-wise analysis on susceptibility-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (sFLAIR) images and T2*-weighted (T2*w) imaging at 7 Tesla (T). We observed post-to-intra-lesional venous lumen shrinking on T2*w images (p = 0.036) in an analysis of 338 venous sections. Pre-to-intra-lesional venous lumen reduction was only detectable in less than 50% of lesions and failed statistical significance when analysing T2*w (p = 0.325) and sFLAIR images (p = 0.258). In conclusion, thinning of intra-lesional veins in MS is--if detectable at all--probably less severe than previously reported, and affects only a minority of MS lesions.
authors.affiliation: NeuroCure Clinical Research Center, Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kuchling
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dörr
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Harms
authors.forename: Klemens
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ruprecht
authors.forename: Thoralf
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niendorf
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wuerfel
authors.forename: Friedemann
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paul
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sinnecker
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002550:Cerebral Veins / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult