White-matter-nulled MPRAGE at 7T reveals thalamic lesions and atrophy of specific thalamic nuclei in multiple sclerosis. (July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Planche, Vincent; Su, Jason H; Mournet, Sandy; Saranathan, Manojkumar; Dousset, Vincent; Han, May; Rutt, Brian K; Tourdias, Thomas
• Is Part Of: Multiple sclerosis. Volume 26:Number 8(2020)
• Page Start: 987
• Page End: 992
• Publication Date: 2020-07
• Subjects: Thalamic nuclei -- multiple sclerosis -- multi-atlas segmentation -- white-matter-nulled MPRAGE -- ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging; Central nervous system -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Myelin sheath -- Diseases -- Periodicals; Inflammation -- Periodicals; Multiple sclerosis -- Periodicals; Central Nervous System Diseases -- Periodicals; Demyelinating Diseases -- Periodicals; Inflammation -- Periodicals; Multiple Sclerosis -- Periodicals; Système nerveux central -- Maladies -- Périodiques; Gaine de myéline -- Maladies -- Périodiques; Inflammation (Pathologie) -- Périodiques; Sclérose en plaques -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 616.834005
• DOI: 10.1177/1352458519828297
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1352-4585

Abstract

Background: Investigating the degeneration of specific thalamic nuclei in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains challenging. Methods: White-matter-nulled (WMn) MPRAGE, MP-FLAIR, and standard T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed on MS patients ( n = 15) and matched controls ( n = 12). Thalamic lesions were counted in individual sequences and lesion contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) was measured. Volumes of 12 thalamic nuclei were measured using an automatic segmentation pipeline specifically developed for WMn-MPRAGE. Results: WMn-MPRAGE showed more thalamic MS lesions ( n = 35 in 9 out of 15 patients) than MP-FLAIR ( n = 25) and standard T1 ( n = 23), which was associated with significant improvement of CNR ( p < 0.0001). MS patients had whole thalamus atrophy ( p = 0.003) with lower volumes found for the anteroventral ( p < 0.001), the pulvinar ( p < 0.0001), and the habenular ( p = 0.004) nuclei. Conclusion: WMn-MPRAGE and automatic thalamic segmentation can highlight thalamic MS lesions and measure patterns of focal thalamic atrophy.