Salem Hannoun1,2, Francoise Durand-Dubief1,3, Danielle Ibarrola2, Jean Christophe Comte2, Christian Confavreux3, Dominique Sappey-Marinier1,2
1CREATIS-LRMN, UMR5220 CNRS & U630 INSERM & Universit de Lyon, Bron, France; 2CERMEP-Imagerie du vivant, Bron, France; 3Hopital Neurologique, Groupement Hospitalier Est, Bron, France
The aim of this work is to provide new markers of neurodegenerative processes in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) using DTI. Axial (a) and radial (r) diffusivities as well as FA and ADC have been extracted from subcortical gray matter (SGM) structures (thalamus, caudate and lenticular nuclei). Our results, obtained in 62 patients with different clinical forms, showed significant increase of FA and a values in SGM structures. This alteration is particularly significant in patients with primary progressive form of MS which may suggest a loss of dendritic branching resulting from early neurodegenerative processes.