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MRI evolution of new MS lesions enhancing after different doses of gadolinium
M Rovaris1, G Mastronardo, C Gasperini
1Neuroimaging Research Unit, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, University of Milan, Italy.
Objective:
To investigate the evolution of multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions enhancing after single dose (SD) or triple dose (TD) of gadolinium-DTPA (Gd).
Material And Methods:
For 3 months, 30 relapsing-remitting MS patients underwent 2 monthly MRI sessions, consisting of Gd-enhanced T1-weighted scans, after SD (i.e., 0.1 mmol/kg) in one session and TD (i.e., 0.3 mmol/kg) in the other. New enhancing lesions on month 1 and month 2 follow-up scans were studied and for them any persistence of enhancement was evaluated on the scans obtained the next month.
Results:
In all, 151 lesions enhancing after both SD and TD and 91 lesions enhancing only after TD entered the analysis. After 1 month, for the 151 lesions enhancing after both SD and TD, 73 (48%) were not enhancing, 50 (33%) were still enhancing after both SD and TD and 28 (19%) were enhancing only after TD. For the 91 lesions enhancing only after TD, 61 (67%; P<0.005) were not enhancing, 16 (18%; P<0.01) were still enhancing only after TD and 14 (15%; P=NS) showed enhancement after both SD and TD.
Conclusion:
Enhancing lesions in patients with MS are heterogeneous. Those enhancing only after TD of Gd are characterized by a milder and shorter opening of the blood-brain barrier.