White Matter Evaluation in Multiple Sclerosis Through Magnetic Resonance Kurtosis Imaging

To investigate diffusional changes in multiple sclerosis (MS) plaques and non-Gaussian behavior of water diffusion by using diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI).

31 MS patients and 21 controls underwent MRI on a 3T scanner. Mean kurtosis (MK) parametric maps were computed. Region of interest (ROI) was delineated as white matter (WM) in controls and MS plaques and WM in patients.

There was no significance of WM kurtosis and skewness parameters among MS group and control group patients p=0.213 and p=0.390, respectively. In MS patients, kurtosis, skewness, maximum intensity, minimum intensity, and median intensity values of WM, Plaque 1, Plaque 2, and Plague 3 were significantly higher at p<0.0001 for all.  Conclusions: DKI may provide more extensive characterization of lesions and WM and may be a sensitive indicator of tissue damage and microstructural change in patients with MS in addition to conventional diffusional evaluations.