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Published on: July 19, 2019
An Ultra-High Field Study of Cerebellar Pathology in Early Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Using MP2RAGE
Mário João Fartaria1, Kieran OʼBrien, Alexandra Şorega
1From the *Advanced Clinical Imaging Technology, Siemens Healthcare AG; †Department of Radiology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; ‡Centre for Advanced Imaging, University of Queensland; §Siemens Healthcare Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; ∥Department of Radiology, Valais Hospital, Sion, Switzerland; ¶Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; #Signal Processing Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; **Siemens Medical Solutions USA, Inc, Malvem, PA; ††Medical Image Analysis Laboratory, Centre d'Imagerie BioMédicale; and ‡‡Neuroimmunology Unit, Neurology, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Ultra-high-field 7T MP2RAGE MRI significantly improves detection of cerebellar lesions in early multiple sclerosis (MS) compared to 3T MRI. Higher resolution 7T imaging offers better anatomical detail of white and gray matter pathology in MS patients.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Radiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a demyelinating disease affecting the central nervous system.
- Early detection and characterization of MS lesions are crucial for effective management.
- Cerebellar involvement in early MS can impact motor function and cognition.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the utility of ultra-high-field 7 Tesla (7T) magnetization-prepared 2 inversion-contrast rapid gradient-echo (MP2RAGE) for detecting focal cerebellar pathology in early multiple sclerosis (MS).
- To compare lesion detection and characterization at 7T with conventional 3T MRI.
- To assess the relationship between MRI-detected cerebellar lesions and clinical performance in MS patients.
Main Methods:
- Twenty early-stage relapsing-remitting MS patients underwent 7T and 3T MRI using MP2RAGE sequences.
- Acquisitions were performed at different resolutions: 0.58 mm isotropic (7T_0.58) and 0.75 mm isotropic (7T_0.75) at 7T, and 1.0 mm isotropic (3T_1.0) at 3T.
- Statistical analyses included Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for lesion load, volume, T1 relaxation times, and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and multivariate analysis for clinical performance correlation.
Main Results:
- Both 7T MP2RAGE resolutions (7T_0.58 and 7T_0.75) revealed significantly higher cerebellar lesion loads than 3T_1.0 MP2RAGE (P < 0.001).
- 7T_0.58 MP2RAGE identified more white matter lesions compared to 7T_0.75 and 3T_1.0 MP2RAGE.
- Cortical lesion contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was significantly higher at 7T than 3T. Lesion load and volume at both field strengths predicted attention, verbal fluency, and motor performance.
Conclusions:
- 7T MP2RAGE is valuable for studying cerebellar pathology in early MS.
- The highest resolution 7T MP2RAGE (7T_0.58) offers superior anatomical detail of white and gray matter lesions due to improved spatial resolution and CNR.
- Advanced MRI techniques like 7T MP2RAGE enhance the understanding and characterization of MS pathology.
