Cornelia Laule1, Irene M. Vavasour1, Shannon H. Kolind2, Burkhard Maedler3, Anthony L. Traboulsee4, Penny Smyth4, Alex Rauscher1, John Hooge4, Virginia Devonshire4, Joel Oger4, Wayne Moore5, David KB Li1,4, Alex L. MacKay1,2
1Radiology, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 2Physics & Astronomy, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 3Philips Healthcare, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 4Neurology, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 5Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Histological studies show cycles of demyelination and remyelination occur in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions. MR measures of myelin water fraction (MWF), water content (WC) and geometric mean T2 (GMT2) measured by multi-echo T2 relaxation provide insight into the myelination state of MS lesions.We utilized a 3D T2 relaxation sequence to follow MWF, WC, GMT2 and also measured T1 on a monthly basis to elucidate the time course of pathological changes in new MS lesions. The behaviour of new lesions varied between subjects, with some lesions showing recovery. WC and MWF can monitor the evolution of demyelination and remyelination in MS.