Abstract #4076

mcDESPOT-Derived MWF Improves EDSS Prediction in MS Patients Compared to Only Atrophy Measures

Jason Su¹, Hagen H. Kitzler², Michael Zeineh¹, Cyndi Harper-Little³, Andy Leung⁴, Marcelo Kremenchutzky⁵, Sean C. Deoni⁶, Brian Keith Rutt¹

¹Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; ²Department of Neuroradiology, Technische Universitaet Dresden, Dresden, Germany; ³Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; ⁴Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; ⁵Department of Clinical Neurological Sciences, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; ⁶Brown University, Providence, RI, United States

Using the multi-component Driven Equilibrium Single Pulse Observation of T1 and T2 (mcDESPOT) method, we examined the severity of demyelination in a variety of tissue compartments across a sample of controls and Multiple Sclerosis patients. We looked at traditional volumetric atrophy measures and sought to combine all these metrics to best predict EDSS (clinical disability score). Demyelination and atrophy had a stronger association with EDSS than lesion load. The severity of demyelination in any given tissue compartment was statistically different between controls and every patient class. Quantitative measures significantly improve the ability to predict EDSS above atrophy measures alone.