Abstract #0027

Budde M, Song S, Cross A, Liang H

The pathology of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) exhibits varying degrees of inflammation, demyelination, and axonal damage. The directional diffusivities derived from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), axial and radial diffusivity, have proven useful in detecting axonal and myelin damage, respectively. We applied DTI in addition to contrast enhancement imaging of the spinal cord white matter in mice with acute and chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, an animal model of MS. The changes in contrast enhancement, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity reflected the pathological changes evident on histology. Axial diffusivity and the percentage of contrast enhancement significantly correlated with neurological disability.