Abstract #3304

Sodium MRI, SMT, and qMT in Black Holes in Multiple Sclerosis

Ping Wang^1,2, Junzhong Xu^2,3, Richard Dortch^2,3, John C. Gore^2,3, and Francesca R. Bagnato⁴

¹Radiology and Imaging Sciences, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, ²Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁴Clinical Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, United States

Black holes in multiple sclerosis (MS) are considered to be more indicative of axonal loss than T₂ lesions. We employed three novel MRI techniques, sodium MRI, diffusion MRI via the spherical mean technique, and quantitative magnetization transfer to measure tissue sodium concentration (TSC, for axonal dysfunction), apparent axonal volume fraction (V_ax, for axon loss), and macromolecular-to-free pool-size-ratio (PSR, for demyelination degree), respectively. The results showed significant differences of the measures between black holes and the contralateral normal appearing white matters, indicating the potential of using these techniques to provide more specific information on underlying pathology in MS.

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