Neuropathologically informed imaging of cortical grey matter lesions in MS - A pilot study

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is frequently misdiagnosed based on MRI abnormalities detected in the brain white matter. Cortical lesions have been well described neuropathologically, but remain challenging to detect in clinical practice. Therefore, the ability to detect cortical lesions offers real potential to reduce misdiagnosis. Cortical lesions have been shown to have a predilection for regions with CSF stasis - such as the insula and cingulate gyrus. This pathological observation forms the basis of our current pilot MR imaging study, which successfully uses high spatial resolution imaging of these two anatomical regions to clearly identify cortical lesions in MS.