title: Individual Assessment of Brain Tissue Changes in MS and the Effect of Focal Lesions on Short-Term Focal Atrophy Development in MS: A Voxel-Guided Morphometry Study.
abstract: We performed voxel-guided morphometry (VGM) investigating the mechanisms of brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS) related to focal lesions. VGM maps detect regional brain changes when comparing 2 time points on high resolution T1-weighted (T1w) magnetic resonace imaging (MRI). Two T1w MR datasets from 92 relapsing-remitting MS patients obtained 12 months apart were analysed with VGM. New lesions and volume changes of focal MS lesions as well as in the surrounding tissue were identified by visual inspection on colour coded VGM maps. Lesions were dichotomized in active and inactive lesions. Active lesions, defined by either new lesions (NL) (volume increase > 5% in VGM), chronic enlarging lesions (CEL) (pre-existent T1w lesions with volume increase > 5%), or chronic shrinking lesions (CSL) (pre-existent T1w lesions with volume reduction > 5%) in VGM, were accompanied by tissue shrinkage in surrounding and/or functionally related regions. Volume loss within the corpus callosum was highly correlated with the number of lesions in its close proximity. Volume loss in the lateral geniculate nucleus was correlated with lesions along the optic radiation. VGM analysis provides strong evidence that all active lesion types (NL, CEL, and CSL) contribute to brain volume reduction in the vicinity of lesions and/or in anatomically and functionally related areas of the brain.
authors.affiliation: Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, Department of Neurology, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, Mannheim 68167, Germany. J_Fox@web.de.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: Hospital zum Heiligen Geist, Department for Early Rehabilitation, Kempen 47906, Germany. matthias.kraemer@krankenhaus-kempen.de.
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.affiliation: Institute for Anatomy, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, Düsseldorf 40001, Germany. thorsten@hirn.uni-duesseldorf.de.
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schormann
authors.affiliation: Deutsches Institut für Medizinische Dokumentation und Information, Waisenhausgasse 36-38a, Köln 50676, Germany. Dabringhaus@dimdi.de.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dabringhaus
authors.affiliation: Fraunhofer MEVIS, Institut für Bildgestützte Medizin, Universitätsallee 29, Bremen 28359, Germany. jochen.hirsch@mevis.fraunhofer.de.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.affiliation: Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, Department of Neurology, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, Mannheim 68167, Germany. eisele@neuro.ma.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Eisele
authors.affiliation: Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, Department of Neurology, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, Mannheim 68167, Germany. szabo@neuro.ma.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Szabo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biometry and Statistics, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Ruprecht-Karls University Heidelberg, Mannheim 68167, Germany. Christel.Weiss@medma.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Christel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.affiliation: MIAC, Basel, Universitätsspital Basel, Mittlere Strasse 83, Basel 4056, Switzerland. michael.amann@usb.ch.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amann
authors.affiliation: Neurology, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, Basel 4052, Switzerland. katrin.weier@usb.ch.
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weier
authors.affiliation: Neurology, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, Basel 4052, Switzerland. yvonne.naegelin@usb.ch.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naegelin
authors.affiliation: Neurology, Departments of Medicine, Clinical Research and Biomedical Engineering, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 4, Basel 4052, Switzerland. ludwig.kappos@usb.ch.
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kappos
authors.affiliation: Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, Department of Neurology, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1-3, Mannheim 68167, Germany. achim.gass@medma.uni-heidelberg.de.
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gass
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005829:Geniculate Bodies / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D016015:Logistic Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Wallerian degeneration; corpus callosum; lateral geniculate nucleus; lesion; multiple sclerosis; regional brain atrophy; retrograde degeneration; shrinking; voxel