title: Analysis of ageing-associated grey matter volume in patients with multiple sclerosis shows excess atrophy in subcortical regions.
abstract: Age of onset in multiple sclerosis (MS) exerts an influence on the course of disease. This study examined whether global and regional brain volumes differed between "younger" and "older" onset MS subjects who were matched for short disease duration, mean 1.9 years and burden as measured by the MS Severity Score and relapses. 21 younger-onset MS subjects (age 30.4 ± 3.2 years) were compared with 17 older-onset (age 48.7 ± 3.3 years) as well as age-matched controls (n= 31, 31.9 ± 3.5 years andn= 21, 47.3 ± 4.0 years). All subjects underwent 3D volumetric T1 and T2-FLAIR imaging. White matter (WM) and grey matter (GM) lesions were outlined manually. Lesions were filled prior to tissue and structural segmentation to reduce classification errors. Volume loss versus control was predominantly in the subcortical GM, at > 13% loss. Younger and older-onset MS subjects had similar, strong excess loss in the putamen, thalamus, and nucleus accumbens. No excess loss was detected in the amygdala or pallidum. The hippocampus and caudate showed significant excess loss in the younger group (p< 0.001) and a strong trend in the older-onset group. These results provide a potential imaging correlate of published neuropsychological studies that reported the association of younger age at disease onset with impaired cognitive performance, including decreased working memory.
authors.affiliation: Imanova Centre for Imaging Sciences, London, UK.
authors.forename: Courtney A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Bishop
authors.affiliation: Imanova Centre for Imaging Sciences, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rexford D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Newbould
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, UK; Department of Imaging, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Jean Sz
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Lesley
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Honeyfield
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Quest
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, UK.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Colasanti
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, UK.
authors.forename: Rehiana
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, UK.
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mattoscio
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, UK; Department of Neurology and Psychiatry, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cortese
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, UK.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nicholas
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, UK.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, UK.
authors.forename: Paolo A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Muraro
authors.affiliation: Division of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London, UK; Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, UK.
authors.forename: Adam D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Waldman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D000679:Amygdala / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Atrophy; Grey matter; Image analysis; Magnetic resonance imaging; Multiple sclerosis