Abstract #3445

Characterizing 1-Year Development of Cervical Cord Atrophy Across Different MS Phenotypes: A Voxel-Wise, Multicenter Analysis

Paola Valsasina¹, Maria A. Rocca^1,2,3, Claudio Gobbi^4,5, Chiara Zecca^4,5, Alex Rovira⁶, Xavier Montalban⁷, Hugh Kearney⁸, Olga Ciccarelli⁸, Lucy Matthews⁹, Jacqueline Palace⁹, Antonio Gallo¹⁰, Alvino Bisecco¹⁰, Achim Gass¹¹, Philipp Eisele¹¹, and Massimo Filippi^1,2,3,12,13

¹Neuroimaging Research Unit, Division of Neuroscience, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy, ²Neurology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy, ³Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy, ⁴Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology, Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland, Civic Hospital, Lugano, Switzerland, ⁵Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, ⁶Section of Neuroradiology, Department of Radiology, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain, ⁷Department of Neurology/Neuroimmunology, Multiple Sclerosis Center of Catalonia, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Barcelona, Spain, ⁸NMR Research Unit, Queen Square MS Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom, ⁹Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ¹⁰Department of Advanced Medical and Surgical Sciences, and 3T MRI Center, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Naples, Italy, ¹¹Department of Neurology, Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Germany, ¹²Neurorehabilitation Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy, ¹³Neurophysiology Service, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy

Here, we used a longitudinal, voxel-wise analysis to characterize baseline cervical cord tissue loss and its progression over 1-year follow-up in a cohort of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) acquired at 7 European sites. Results indicated that baseline cord atrophy was severe in MS patients vs controls, with a prevalent involvement of posterior/lateral regions of the upper cord, a differential effect across phenotypes and a strong correlation with disability. Cord atrophy significantly increased over time in all MS patients, was more widespread in relapsing-remitting MS than in other phenotypes and contributed to explain clinical disability at 1-year follow-up.

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