title: Composite MRI measures and short-term disability in patients with clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of MS.
abstract: The use of composite magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures has been suggested to better explain disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, little is known about the utility of composite scores at the earliest stages of the disease.
  
  
  
  To investigate whether, in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), a composite MRI measure, rather than the single metrics, would explain conversion to MS and would better correlate with disability at baseline and at 1 year of follow-up.
  
  
  
  Corticospinal tract (CST), corpus callosum (CC) and optic radiation (OR) volume, fractional anisotropy (FA), and mean diffusivity (MD) values were measured in 27 CIS patients and 24 healthy controls (HCs). Z-scores of FA, MD, and tract volume measures were calculated in patients, based on the corresponding measures obtained from HCs, and then combined in a composite score for each tract. Correlations between Z-scores at baseline and both the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) at baseline and at follow-up (FU-EDSS) were investigated.
  
  
  
  Only CST, CC, and OR composite scores as well as the CST volume were significantly associated with FU-EDSS ( p = 0.005, p = 0.007, p = 0.020, and p = 0.010, respectively).
  
  
  
  The combination of MRI measures rather than the individual metrics better captured the association between tissue damage in both the CC, OR and CST and short-term follow-up disability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bommarito
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy/UOC Fisica Medica e Sanitaria, IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bellini
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pardini
authors.affiliation: Neurology Unit, Department of Head and Neck, PA Micone Hospital, ASL3 Genovese, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Solaro
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science (DISSAL), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Roccatagliata
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alice
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Laroni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Elisabetta
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Capello
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni Luigi
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Mancardi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Uccelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rehabilitation, Ophthalmology, Genetics, Maternal and Child Health (DINOGMI), University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy/IRCCS AOU San Martino-IST, Genoa, Italy/Departments of Neurology, Radiology and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Matilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Inglese
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D012008:Recurrence; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D066127:White Matter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MRI; Multiple sclerosis; clinically isolated syndrome; disability