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New Imaging Markers in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders: Smoldering Inflammation and the Central Vein Sign
Christopher C Hemond1, María I Gaitán2, Martina Absinta3
1Department of Neurology, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center and University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Abstract:
Concepts of multiple sclerosis (MS) biology continue to evolve, with observations such as "progression independent of disease activity" challenging traditional phenotypic categorization. Iron-sensitive, susceptibility-based imaging techniques are emerging as highly translatable MR imaging sequences that allow for visualization of at least 2 clinically useful biomarkers: the central vein sign and the paramagnetic rim lesion (PRL). Both biomarkers demonstrate high specificity in the discrimination of MS from other mimics and can be seen at 1.5 T and 3 T field strengths. Additionally, PRLs represent a subset of chronic active lesions engaged in "smoldering" compartmentalized inflammation behind an intact blood-brain barrier.
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