Nashiely Pineda Alonso1, Michael Benatar2, Xiaoping Hu1, John Carew3
1Biomedical Engineering, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; 2Neurology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA; 3Biostatistics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by a degeneration of both upper and lower motor neurons in the brain, brainstem and spinal cord. 1H-MRS has not previously been applied in the spinal cord of patients with ALS. The findings of the present study are consistent with the results of previous studies using 1H-MRS for the brain, medulla and brainstem metabolism analysis of ALS patients. Reductions in NAA and higher Glx and Inositol signals were found in ALS patients. The present study showed the feasibility of the MRS applied to the spinal cord of ALS patients with standard PRESS sequence at 3T.