Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 16, 2026
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Multiple Sclerosis at 7.0 Tesla
Published on: February 19, 2021
MRI phase changes in multiple sclerosis vs neuromyelitis optica lesions at 7T
Tim Sinnecker1, Sophie Schumacher1, Katharina Mueller1
1NeuroCure Clinical Research Center (T.S., S.S., K.M., F. Pache, F. Paul, J.W.), Clinical and Experimental Multiple Sclerosis Research Center (L.H., K.R., F. Paul), and Department of Neurology (L.H., K.R., F. Paul), Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin; Institute of Neuroradiology (P.D., J.W.), Universitaetsmedizin Goettingen, Germany; Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience (P.D., P.N.), Charles University in Prague, 1st Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic; Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility (T.N., J.W.), Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin; Experimental and Clinical Research Center (T.N., F. Paul, J.W.), Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin and Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany; Department of Radiology (S.C., Y.G.), and Multiple Sclerosis Care Center, Department of Neurology (I.K.), NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY; and Medical Imaging Analysis Center AG (T.S., J.W.), Basel, Switzerland. T.S. is currently with Universitätsspital Basel, Switzerland.
Paramagnetic MRI phase changes are common in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions but rare in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) lesions. These findings may help differentiate between MS and NMOSD brain lesions.
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neurology
- Radiology
Background:
- Distinguishing between multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is crucial for appropriate treatment.
- MRI is essential for diagnosing and monitoring these conditions, but differentiating lesions can be challenging.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare paramagnetic MRI phase signal abnormalities in lesions of patients with NMOSD versus MS.
- To assess the potential of these MRI findings as biomarkers for differentiating NMOSD from MS.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study involving 10 patients with NMOSD and 10 with relapsing-remitting MS.
- High-resolution 7-tesla brain MRI was performed, including T2*-weighted and susceptibility-weighted imaging.
- Analysis focused on intra- and perilesional paramagnetic phase changes in susceptibility-weighted imaging filtered magnetic resonance phase images.
Main Results:
- Paramagnetic rim-like phase changes were observed in 32% of MS lesions and nodular changes in 14%.
- In contrast, only 2% of NMOSD lesions showed rim-like phase changes and 2% showed nodular changes (p < 0.001).
- These paramagnetic phase abnormalities were significantly more frequent in MS lesions compared to NMOSD lesions.
Conclusions:
- Rim-like or nodular paramagnetic MRI phase changes are characteristic findings in MS lesions.
- These imaging features are infrequently detected in NMOSD lesions.
- Prospective studies are warranted to validate these findings as biomarkers for distinguishing MS- and NMOSD-related brain lesions.
