Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 24, 2025
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Multiple Sclerosis at 7.0 Tesla
Published on: February 19, 2021
Exploring (peri-) lesional and structural connectivity tissue damage through T1/T2-weighted ratio in iron rim
Matthias Wittayer1, Claudia E Weber1, Julia Krämer2
1Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim and Mannheim Center of Translational Neurosciences (MCTN), Heidelberg University, Theodor-Kutzer-Ufer 1 - 3, 68167 Mannheim, Germany.
Objective:
In multiple sclerosis (MS), iron rim lesions (IRLs) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are associated with pronounced intralesional tissue damage. The aim of this study was to investigate (peri-)lesional and structural connectivity tissue damage in IRLs compared to non-IRLs.
Material And Methods:
MRI was acquired on a 3 T system. Tissue integrity was assessed using the T1/T2-weighted (T1/T2w) ratio. Furthermore, we assessed the impact on structural network connectivity accounting for differences in lesion volumes and T1/T2w values.
Results:
Seventy-six patients (38 with at least one IRL and 38 age- and sex-matched patients without IRLs) were included. In the IRL-group, T1/T2w ratios of IRLs were significantly lower compared to non-IRLs (p < 0.05). When comparing the T1/T2w ratios in non-IRLs between the IRL-group and non-IRL group, there was no significant difference (p = 0.887). We observed a centrifugal decrease in microstructural damage from lesions to the perilesional white matter. In the IRL-group, T1/T2w ratios in the perilesional white matter 3-8 mm distant to the lesion were significantly lower in IRLs compared to non-IRLs. We found no significant differences in the amount of network disruption between both lesion types (p = 0.122).
Conclusion:
T1/T2w represents an interesting candidate to capture a pronounced intra- and perilesional tissue damage of IRLs. However, our preliminary results suggest that a pronounced tissue damage might not result in a higher disruption to structural connectivity networks in IRLs.
