title: Activities of daily living and lesion position among multiple sclerosis patients by Bayes network.
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging is a highly sensitive approach for diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, and T2-weighted images can reveal lesions in the cerebral white matter, gray matter, and spinal cord. However, the lesions have a poor correlation with measurable clinical disability. In this study, we performed a large-scale epidemiological survey of 238 patients with multiple sclerosis in eleven districts by network member hospitals in Shanghai, China within 1 year. The involved patients were scanned for position and size of lesions by MRI. Results showed that lesions in the cerebrum, spinal cord, or supratentorial position had an impact on the activities of daily living in multiple sclerosis patients, as assessed by the Bayes network. On the other hand, brainstem lesions were very unlikely to influence the activities of daily living, and were not associated with the position of lesion, patient's gender, and patient's living place.
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China ; School of Information & Engineering, Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou 325035, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors.forename: Zhifang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
authors.forename: Hongtao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200025, China ; Department of Neurology, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cheng
keywords: Bayes network; activities of daily living; epidemiological survey; grants-supported paper; magnetic resonance imaging; multiple sclerosis; neural regeneration; neurodegenerative diseases; neuroregeneration