Surface-Based Techniques Reveal Regions of Reduced Cortical Magnetization Transfer Ratio in Patients with MS

Mishkin Derakhshan¹, Zografos Caramanos¹, Sridar Narayanan¹, Douglas L. Arnold¹, D Louis Collins¹

Novel imaging methods are essential to accurately detect and quantify the GM pathology that is increasingly being recognized in multiple sclerosis (MS). In this study, we measured the extent of subpial decreases in magnetization transfer ratios using a novel surface-based method. When comparing individual MS patients to a group of normal controls, we detected regions of significant MTR differences, which may include regions of cortical demyelination. Group-wise analysis revealed significant differences between the group with secondary progressive MS and normal controls, but not between the relapsing-remitting patients and normal controls. We assessed the sensitivity of our method using simulations.