Benedetta Bodini1, Marco Battaglini2, Nicola De Stefano2, Zhaleh Khaleeli1, Frederik Barkhof3, Bruno Brochet4, Vincent Dousset5, Massimo Filippi6, Xavier Montalban7, Chris Polman3, Marco Rovaris6, Alex Rovira7, Jaume Sastre-Garriga7, David H. Miller8, Rebecca Samson8, Olga Ciccarelli1, Alan J. Thompson1
1Dept. of Brain Repair and Rehabilitation, Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, UK; 2Dept. of Neurological and Behavioural Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy; 3Department of Radiology, MS Center, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 4Hopital Pellegrin, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Bordeaux, France; 5Bordeaux Neuroscience Institute, University Victor Segalen, Bordeaux, France; 6Neuroimaging Research Unit, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy; 7Depts. of Neuroimmunology and Radiology, Hospital Vall dHebron, Barcelona, Spain; 8Dept. of Neuroinflammation, Institute of Neurology, UCL, London, London, UK
The aim of this study was to assess whether the spatial distribution of T2 lesions predicted long-term progression in primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). To clarify this issue, we applied Lesion Probability Map, a novel technique, to a large cohort of PPMS patients followed-up over 10 years. We found that the spatial distribution of T2 lesions at baseline was relevant in predicting the risk of long-term progression. In particular, lesions in the motor and associative tracts correlated with more rapid clinical progression. We confirmed that male gender was associated with a worse long-term prognosis.