MRI Texture Correlates of Pathological Findings in Post-Mortem Multiple Sclerosis Brain

Yunyan Zhang^1,2, GR Wayne Moore¹, Cornelia Laule¹, Thorarin A. Bjarnason², Piotr Kozlowski¹, Alex L. Mackay¹, Anthony L. Traboulsee¹, David K. B. Li¹

Ten post-mortem brain samples from 3 MS subjects were imaged at 7T. Regions of interest were marked on histological sections staining for myelin and axon, then were matched on MR images including lesions (14), normal appearing white matter (NAWM, 12) and regions of reduced myelin and axon (rLrB). MRI texture analysis based on polar Stockwell Transform (PST) was performed. Texture was highest in lesions, intermediate in rLrB and lowest in NAWM (p < 0.01) providing evidence that texture abnormality associates with tissue pathology. PST analysis may be a potential tool to quantify tissue integrity in MS or other neurological disorders.