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Updated: Jun 23, 2025
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Multiple Sclerosis at 7.0 Tesla
Published on: February 19, 2021
Brain and cervical spinal cord MRI correlates of sensorimotor impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis
Tetsu Morozumi1, Paolo Preziosa1,2, Alessandro Meani1
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Background:
Cervical spinal cord (cSC) lesions and atrophy contribute to disability in multiple sclerosis (MS), but associations with specific sensorimotor dysfunction require further exploration.
Objective:
To investigate the associations of brain and cSC magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures with sensorimotor impairment in MS.
Methods:
One hundred fifty-one MS patients and 69 healthy controls underwent 3T MRI and clinical assessments including Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), 9-hole peg test (9-HPT), finger tapping test (FTT), timed 25-foot walk test (T25FWT), and vibration detection threshold (VDT). Random forest ranked brain (T2-hyperintense lesion volume (T2-LV) and normalized deep gray matter (GM), cortical and white matter (WM) volumes) and cSC (T2-LV and total, GM, and WM cross-sectional areas (CSAs) at C2/C3 level) MRI measures relevance in explaining EDSS milestones (EDSS ⩾3.0, ⩾4.0, and ⩾6.0), VDT, pyramidal and sensory functional systems (P-FS and S-FS ⩾2), and motor tests impairment.
Results:
Various combinations of brain and cSC MRI measures explained EDSS milestones (area under the curve (AUC) =0.879-0.900), VDT (R2 = 0.194), and impaired P-FS (AUC = 0.820), S-FS (AUC = 0.795), 9-HPT (AUC = 0.793), FTT (AUC = 0.740), and T25FWT (AUC = 0.825). cSC GM CSA was the most informative feature for all outcomes, except 9-HPT.
Conclusion:
cSC MRI measures, especially GM CSA, explain EDSS and sensorimotor dysfunction better than brain measures in MS.
