Regional specificity of magnetization transfer imaging in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to develop and validate a method for generation of regional magnetization transfer ratio (MTR). We also studied the topography of MTR changes in multiple sclerosis (MS) and in normal controls (NC), and preliminarily examined the clinical usefulness of this method. METHODS: We examined 45 patients with MS (relapsing remitting [RR] = 28 and secondary progressive [SP] = 17] and 19 NC. Mean disease duration was 14.3 years and median Expanded Disability Status Scale was 3.0. Regions of the brain were determined using semiautomated brain region extraction (SABRE). Twenty-six regional masks were automatically applied to MTR maps that were further split into gray matter (GM) and white matter (WM) compartments. RESULTS: Mean MTR from 12 SABRE regions differed significantly between MS patients and NC. For WM, all regional mean MTRs differed significantly between RR, SP, and NC participants (P