Choroid Plexus Enlargement in Secondary Progressive MS: phenotype comparison.

Area of Science:

• Neuroimmunology
• Neuroinflammation
• Biomarker Discovery

Background:

• The choroid plexus (CP) is implicated in chronic inflammation in multiple sclerosis (MS).
• CP enlargement is noted in early MS, but its role in secondary progressive MS (SPMS) remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• Quantify CP volume in SPMS.
• Compare CP volume across MS phenotypes (SPMS, RRMS, CIS).
• Assess CP volume associations with disease severity and progression.

Main Methods:

• Manual segmentation and normalization of CP volumes.
• Age correction using a healthy control cohort.
• Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of CP volume, ventricular volume, lesion burden, and brain atrophy.

Main Results:

• SPMS patients exhibited significantly higher CP volumes (26% vs CIS, 17% vs RRMS).
• CP enlargement in SPMS was independent of ventricular size.
• CP volume correlated significantly with chronic lesion expansion (r²=0.31) and brain volume loss (r²=0.52) in longitudinal analyses.

Conclusions:

• CP enlargement is a progressive feature of MS, not linked to ventricular expansion.
• In SPMS, CP enlargement may indicate ongoing inflammation contributing to tissue damage.
• CP volume shows potential as a biomarker for MS progression.