A novel method to measure venular perivascular spaces in patients with MS on 7T MRI

Abstract

In MS, inflammatory cells accumulate within the perivascular spaces of acute and chronic lesions. Reliance on perivascular spaces as biomarkers for MS remains uncertain because various studies have reported inconsistencies in perivascular space anatomy. Distinguishing between venular and arteriolar perivascular spaces is pathophysiologically relevant in MS. In this pilot study, we leverage susceptibility-weighted imaging at 7T to better identify perivascular spaces of venular distribution on corresponding high-resolution T2 images.