Richard J Dury1, Molly G Bright1, Yasser Falah2, Penny A Gowland1, Nikos Evangelou2, and Susan T Francis1
1Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom, 2Nottingham University Hospital, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Grey matter cortical lesions
have been associated with physical disability, cognitive impairment and fatigue
in Multiple Sclerosis. Only one previous study has assessed cerebral blood flow (CBF) and
cerebral blood volume (CBV) within cortical lesions. Here we use high spatial resolution
7T FAIR TrueFISP ASL to assess the perfusion in grey matter cortical lesions and compare
this to surrounding normal appearing grey matter. Cortical lesions showed a
significant 32% reduction in perfusion signal compared to normal appearing grey
matter. This ASL method can be used to evaluate longitudinal
perfusion changes in new and chronic cortical lesions.