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White and Gray Matter Damage in PPMS

Assessing the role of lesions

Publish date:: January 5, 2016

In early primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS), cortical damage is for the most part a sequela of normal-appearing white matter (WM) pathology, which, in turn, is predicted by abnormalities within WM lesions. This according to a study of 47 patients with PPMS and 18 healthy controls who had magnetization transfer imaging at baseline and a subgroup of 35 patients who repeated the protocol at 2 years. Researchers found:

• Baseline MTR of most regions was lower in patients than in healthy controls.

• The tract-cortex pair relationships in the primary WM damage model were significant for the bilateral motor pair and right visual pair; those in the primary gray matter damage model were significant only for the right motor pair.

• Lower lesion MTR at baseline was associated with lower MTR in the same tract normal-appearing WM at 2 years in 3 tracts.

Citation: Bodini B, Chard D, Altmann DR, et al. White and gray matter damage in primary progressive MS: The chicken or the egg? [Published online ahead of print December 16, 2015]. Neurology. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000002237.

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