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Updated: May 24, 2026

Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Multiple Sclerosis at 7.0 Tesla
Published on: February 19, 2021
Sensitivity and specificity for screening of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency using a multimodal
1Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA.
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to investigate whether a combination of Doppler sonography (DS) and magnetic resonance venography (MRV) on 3T MRI increases specificity for detection of chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) in 171 (113 relapsing-remitting, 47 secondary-progressive, 11 primary progressive) patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and 79 age- and sex matched healthy controls (HCs). One hundred ten (64.3%) MS patients and 30 (38%) HCs presented ≥2 venous hemodynamic CCSVI criteria (p<.0001). Both DS and MRV showed relatively high specificity but lower sensitivity for determining a CCSVI diagnosis in patients with MS vs HCs and between MS subgroups. In MS patients this diagnostic specificity increased to over 90% by combining internal jugular vein and vertebral vein abnormal DS and MRV findings, reflux in deep cerebral veins and MRV findings of >1 collateral veins. This study suggests that a multimodal non-invasive approach (DS and MRV) increases the specificity for a diagnosis of CCSVI in patients with MS.
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