White matter changes measured by multi-component MR Fingerprinting in multiple sclerosis
NeuroImage Clinical, vol. 40, pp. 103528
Abstract
-hyperintense lesions are the key imaging marker of multiple sclerosis (MS). Previous studies have shown that the white matter surrounding such lesions is often also affected by MS. Our aim was to develop a new method to visualize and quantify the extent of white matter tissue changes in MS based on relaxometry properties. We applied a fast, multi-parametric quantitative MRI approach and used a multi-component MR Fingerprinting (MC-MRF) analysis. We assessed the differences in the MRF component representing prolongedrelaxation time between patients with MS and controls and studied the relation between this component's volume and structural white matter damage identified on FLAIR MRI scans in patients with MS. A total of 48 MS patients at two different sites and 12 healthy controls were scanned with FLAIR and MRF-EPI MRI scans. MRF scans were analyzed with a joint-sparsity multi-component analysis to obtain magnetization fraction maps of different components, representing tissues such as myelin water, white matter, gray matter and cerebrospinal fluid. In the MS patients, an additional component was identified with increased transverse relaxation times compared to the white matter, likely representing changes in free water content. Patients with MS had a higher volume of the long- component in the white matter of the brain compared to healthy controls (B (95%-CI) = 0.004 (0.0006-0.008), p = 0.02). Furthermore, this MRF component had a moderate correlation (correlation coefficient R 0.47) with visible structural white matter changes on the FLAIR scans. Also, the component was found to be more extensive compared to structural white matter changes in 73% of MS patients. In conclusion, our MRF acquisition and analysis captured white matter tissue changes in MS patients compared to controls. In patients these tissue changes were more extensive compared to visually detectable white matter changes on FLAIR scans. Our method provides a novel way to quantify the extent of white matter changes in MS patients, which is underestimated using only conventional clinical MRI scans.
Authors 11
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Martijn A. Nagtegaal Aachen C.J. Gorter MRI Center Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center
Leiden University Medical Center · Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands; C.J. Gorter MRI Center, Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands. Electronic address: m.a.nagtegaal@lumc.nl
C.J. Gorter MRI Center, Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
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Heidelberg University · Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim · Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands; Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
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Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
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Hospital Clínic de Barcelona · Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer · Universitat de Barcelona
Affiliation as printed
Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Unit and Laboratory of Advanced Imaging in Neuroimmunological Diseases (ImaginEM). Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Hospital Clínic de Barcelona · Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer · Universitat de Barcelona
Affiliation as printed
Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Unit and Laboratory of Advanced Imaging in Neuroimmunological Diseases (ImaginEM). Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Hospital Clínic de Barcelona · Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer · Universitat de Barcelona
Affiliation as printed
Neuroimmunology and Multiple Sclerosis Unit and Laboratory of Advanced Imaging in Neuroimmunological Diseases (ImaginEM). Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Institut d'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS) and Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Heidelberg University · Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim
Affiliation as printed
Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany
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Affiliation as printed
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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Matthias J.P. van Osch Aachen C.J. Gorter MRI Center Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center
Leiden University Medical Center
Affiliation as printed
C.J. Gorter MRI Center, Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
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Erasmus MC · Delft University of Technology
Affiliation as printed
Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands; Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Department of Imaging Physics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
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Leiden University Medical Center
Affiliation as printed
Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
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