Correlation between cortical lesions and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Neuroimaging
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Gray matter damage is central to multiple sclerosis (MS).
• Cortical lesions (CLs), visualized via MRI's double inversion recovery (DIR) sequences, correlate with cognitive impairment (CI) in MS.
• Assessing CLs' predictive role for CI is crucial in clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the predictive value of cortical lesion (CL) number for cognitive impairment (CI) in a clinical MS cohort.
• To evaluate the association between CL burden and cognitive deficits in patients with MS.

Main Methods:

• Sixty MS patients were analyzed: 30 with CLs (CL+) and 30 without (CL-).
• High-field (3.0 T) MRI 3D-DIR sequences were used for CL detection.
• Cognitive function was assessed using the Rao Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRB), Version A.

Main Results:

• CL+ patients showed a higher proportion of progressive MS forms (p=0.03).
• The frontal lobe was the most affected region (73.3%).
• Multivariate analysis revealed CL number significantly predicts mild CI (p=0.04), PASAT 3 deficits (p=0.05), and Stroop Test performance (p=0.02).

Conclusions:

• Cortical lesion number, assessed with readily available MRI techniques, is a significant predictor of cognitive impairment in MS.
• This finding can improve CI diagnosis, management, and monitoring of neuroprotective therapies in MS.