Determinants and Biomarkers of Progression Independent of Relapses in Multiple Sclerosis.

Clinical, pathological, and imaging evidence in multiple sclerosis (MS) suggests that a smoldering inflammatory activity is present from the earliest stages of the disease and underlies the progression of disability, which proceeds relentlessly and independently of clinical and radiological relapses (PIRA). The complex system of pathological events driving "chronic" worsening is likely linked with the early accumulation of compartmentalized inflammation within the central nervous system as well as insufficient repair phenomena and mitochondrial failure. These mechanisms are partially lesion-independent and differ from those causing clinical relapses and the formation of new focal demyelinating lesions; they lead to neuroaxonal dysfunction and death, myelin loss, glia alterations, and finally, a neuronal network dysfunction outweighing central nervous system (CNS) compensatory mechanisms. This review aims to provide an overview of the state of the art of neuropathological, immunological, and imaging knowledge about the mechanisms underlying the smoldering disease activity, focusing on possible early biomarkers and their translation into clinical practice. ANN NEUROL 2024;96:1-20.

Grey Matter Atrophy and its Relationship with White Matter Lesions in Patients with Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-associated Disease, Aquaporin-4 Antibody-Positive Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorder, and Multiple Sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate: (1) the distribution of gray matter (GM) atrophy in myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD), aquaporin-4 antibody-positive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (AQP4+NMOSD), and relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS); and (2) the relationship between GM volumes and white matter lesions in various brain regions within each disease. METHODS: A retrospective, multicenter analysis of magnetic resonance imaging data included patients with MOGAD/AQP4+NMOSD/RRMS in non-acute disease stage. Voxel-wise analyses and general linear models were used to evaluate the relevance of regional GM atrophy. For significant results (p < 0.05), volumes of atrophic areas are reported. RESULTS: We studied 135 MOGAD patients, 135 AQP4+NMOSD, 175 RRMS, and 144 healthy controls (HC). Compared with HC, MOGAD showed lower GM volumes in the temporal lobes, deep GM, insula, and cingulate cortex (75.79 cm3); AQP4+NMOSD in the occipital cortex (32.83 cm3); and RRMS diffusely in the GM (260.61 cm3). MOGAD showed more pronounced temporal cortex atrophy than RRMS (6.71 cm3), whereas AQP4+NMOSD displayed greater occipital cortex atrophy than RRMS (19.82 cm3). RRMS demonstrated more pronounced deep GM atrophy in comparison with MOGAD (27.90 cm3) and AQP4+NMOSD (47.04 cm3). In MOGAD, higher periventricular and cortical/juxtacortical lesions were linked to reduced temporal cortex, deep GM, and insula volumes. In RRMS, the diffuse GM atrophy was associated with lesions in all locations. AQP4+NMOSD showed no lesion/GM volume correlation. INTERPRETATION: GM atrophy is more widespread in RRMS compared with the other two conditions. MOGAD primarily affects the temporal cortex, whereas AQP4+NMOSD mainly involves the occipital cortex. In MOGAD and RRMS, lesion-related tract degeneration is associated with atrophy, but this link is absent in AQP4+NMOSD. ANN NEUROL 2024.

Time is myelin: early cortical myelin repair prevents atrophy and clinical progression in multiple sclerosis.

Cortical myelin loss and repair in multiple sclerosis (MS) have been explored in neuropathological studies, but the impact of these processes on neurodegeneration and the irreversible clinical progression of the disease remains unknown. Here, we evaluated in vivo cortical demyelination and remyelination in a large cohort of people with all clinical phenotypes of MS followed up for 5 years using magnetization transfer imaging (MTI), a technique that has been shown to be sensitive to myelin content changes in the cortex. We investigated 140 people with MS (37 clinically isolated syndrome, 71 relapsing-MS, 32 progressive-MS), who were clinically assessed at baseline and after 5 years and, along with 84 healthy controls, underwent a 3 T-MRI protocol including MTI at baseline and after 1 year. Changes in cortical volume over the radiological follow-up were computed with a Jacobian integration method. Magnetization transfer ratio was employed to calculate for each patient an index of cortical demyelination at baseline and of dynamic cortical demyelination and remyelination over the follow-up period. The three indices of cortical myelin content change were heterogeneous across patients but did not significantly differ across clinical phenotypes or treatment groups. Cortical remyelination, which tended to fail in the regions closer to CSF (-11%, P < 0.001), was extensive in half of the cohort and occurred independently of age, disease duration and clinical phenotype. Higher indices of cortical dynamic demyelination (ß = 0.23, P = 0.024) and lower indices of cortical remyelination (ß = -0.18, P = 0.03) were significantly associated with greater cortical atrophy after 1 year, independently of age and MS phenotype. While the extent of cortical demyelination predicted a higher probability of clinical progression after 5 years in the entire cohort [odds ratio (OR) = 1.2; P = 0.043], the impact of cortical remyelination in reducing the risk of accumulating clinical disability after 5 years was significant only in the subgroup of patients with shorter disease duration and limited extent of demyelination in cortical regions (OR = 0.86, P = 0.015, area under the curve = 0.93). In this subgroup, a 30% increase in cortical remyelination nearly halved the risk of clinical progression at 5 years, independently of clinical relapses. Overall, our results highlight the critical role of cortical myelin dynamics in the cascade of events leading to neurodegeneration and to the subsequent accumulation of irreversible disability in MS. Our findings suggest that early-stage myelin repair compensating for cortical myelin loss has the potential to prevent neuro-axonal loss and its long-term irreversible clinical consequences in people with MS.

Disease progression in the first 5 years of treatment in multiple sclerosis: Predictive value of early brain and lesion volume changes.

BACKGROUND: Whether the degree of inflammation (and its resolution) and neurodegeneration after treatment initiation predicts disease progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) remains unclear. OBJECTIVES: To assess the predictive value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-derived brain and lesion volume (LV) changes in years 1 and 2 of treatment for disease progression. METHODS: Patients receiving early interferon beta-1a treatment in REFLEX/REFLEXION (N = 262) were included. Predictive regression models included new/enlarging LV (positive activity), disappearing/shrinking LV (negative activity), and global/central atrophy during years 1 and 2. RESULTS: Faster global atrophy and/or pseudo-atrophy and positive lesion activity in years 1 and 2 related to an increased probability and faster conversion to clinically definite multiple sclerosis (CDMS). Negative lesion activity in year 1 and slower central atrophy in year 2 were predictive of confirmed disability progression (9-Hole Peg Test). Positive lesion activity in year 2 was predictive of faster global atrophy, while positive lesion activity in years 1 and 2 was predictive of faster central atrophy. CONCLUSIONS: A higher degree of global atrophy and/or pseudo-atrophy in year 1 was predictive of CDMS. Positive lesion activity in any year was related to CDMS and neurodegeneration. Disability was related to negative lesion activity in year 1 and slower central atrophy in year 2.

Clinical and MRI measures to identify non-acute MOG-antibody disease in adults.

MRI and clinical features of myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-antibody disease may overlap with those of other inflammatory demyelinating conditions posing diagnostic challenges, especially in non-acute phases and when serologic testing for MOG antibodies is unavailable or shows uncertain results. We aimed to identify MRI and clinical markers that differentiate non-acute MOG-antibody disease from aquaporin 4 (AQP4)-antibody neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, guiding in the identification of patients with MOG-antibody disease in clinical practice. In this cross-sectional retrospective study, data from 16 MAGNIMS centres were included. Data collection and analyses were conducted from 2019 to 2021. Inclusion criteria were: diagnosis of MOG-antibody disease; AQP4-neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and multiple sclerosis; brain and cord MRI at least 6 months from relapse; and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score on the day of MRI. Brain white matter T2 lesions, T1-hypointense lesions, cortical and cord lesions were identified. Random forest models were constructed to classify patients as MOG-antibody disease/AQP4-neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder/multiple sclerosis; a leave one out cross-validation procedure assessed the performance of the models. Based on the best discriminators between diseases, we proposed a guide to target investigations for MOG-antibody disease. One hundred and sixty-two patients with MOG-antibody disease [99 females, mean age: 41 (±14) years, median EDSS: 2 (0-7.5)], 162 with AQP4-neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder [132 females, mean age: 51 (±14) years, median EDSS: 3.5 (0-8)], 189 with multiple sclerosis (132 females, mean age: 40 (±10) years, median EDSS: 2 (0-8)] and 152 healthy controls (91 females) were studied. In young patients (<34 years), with low disability (EDSS < 3), the absence of Dawson's fingers, temporal lobe lesions and longitudinally extensive lesions in the cervical cord pointed towards a diagnosis of MOG-antibody disease instead of the other two diseases (accuracy: 76%, sensitivity: 81%, specificity: 84%, P < 0.001). In these non-acute patients, the number of brain lesions < 6 predicted MOG-antibody disease versus multiple sclerosis (accuracy: 83%, sensitivity: 82%, specificity: 83%, P < 0.001). An EDSS < 3 and the absence of longitudinally extensive lesions in the cervical cord predicted MOG-antibody disease versus AQP4-neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (accuracy: 76%, sensitivity: 89%, specificity: 62%, P < 0.001). A workflow with sequential tests and supporting features is proposed to guide better identification of patients with MOG-antibody disease. Adult patients with non-acute MOG-antibody disease showed distinctive clinical and MRI features when compared to AQP4-neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and multiple sclerosis. A careful inspection of the morphology of brain and cord lesions together with clinical information can guide further analyses towards the diagnosis of MOG-antibody disease in clinical practice.

BIANCA-MS: An optimized tool for automated multiple sclerosis lesion segmentation.

In this work we present BIANCA-MS, a novel tool for brain white matter lesion segmentation in multiple sclerosis (MS), able to generalize across both the wide spectrum of MRI acquisition protocols and the heterogeneity of manually labeled data. BIANCA-MS is based on the original version of BIANCA and implements two innovative elements: a harmonized setting, tested under different MRI protocols, which avoids the need to further tune algorithm parameters to each dataset; and a cleaning step developed to improve consistency in automated and manual segmentations, thus reducing unwanted variability in output segmentations and validation data. BIANCA-MS was tested on three datasets, acquired with different MRI protocols. First, we compared BIANCA-MS to other widely used tools. Second, we tested how BIANCA-MS performs in separate datasets. Finally, we evaluated BIANCA-MS performance on a pooled dataset where all MRI data were merged. We calculated the overlap using the DICE spatial similarity index (SI) as well as the number of false positive/negative clusters (nFPC/nFNC) in comparison to the manual masks processed with the cleaning step. BIANCA-MS clearly outperformed other available tools in both high- and low-resolution images and provided comparable performance across different scanning protocols, sets of modalities and image resolutions. BIANCA-MS performance on the pooled dataset (SI: 0.72 ± 0.25, nFPC: 13 ± 11, nFNC: 4 ± 8) were comparable to those achieved on each individual dataset (median across datasets SI: 0.72 ± 0.28, nFPC: 14 ± 11, nFNC: 4 ± 8). Our findings suggest that BIANCA-MS is a robust and accurate approach for automated MS lesion segmentation.

Emerging Perspectives on MRI Application in Multiple Sclerosis: Moving from Pathophysiology to Clinical Practice.

MRI plays a central role in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and in the monitoring of disease course and treatment response. Advanced MRI techniques have shed light on MS biology and facilitated the search for neuroimaging markers that may be applicable in clinical practice. MRI has led to improvements in the accuracy of MS diagnosis and a deeper understanding of disease progression. This has also resulted in a plethora of potential MRI markers, the importance and validity of which remain to be proven. Here, five recent emerging perspectives arising from the use of MRI in MS, from pathophysiology to clinical application, will be discussed. These are the feasibility of noninvasive MRI-based approaches to measure glymphatic function and its impairment; T1-weighted to T2-weighted intensity ratio to quantify myelin content; classification of MS phenotypes based on their MRI features rather than on their clinical features; clinical relevance of gray matter atrophy versus white matter atrophy; and time-varying versus static resting-state functional connectivity in evaluating brain functional organization. These topics are critically discussed, which may guide future applications in the field.

Methods for Brain Atrophy MR Quantification in Multiple Sclerosis: Application to the Multicenter INNI Dataset.

BACKGROUND: Current therapeutic strategies in multiple sclerosis (MS) target neurodegeneration. However, the integration of atrophy measures into the clinical scenario is still an unmet need. PURPOSE: To compare methods for whole-brain and gray matter (GM) atrophy measurements using the Italian Neuroimaging Network Initiative (INNI) dataset. STUDY TYPE: Retrospective (data available from INNI). POPULATION: A total of 466 patients with relapsing-remitting MS (mean age = 37.3 ± 10 years, 323 women) and 279 healthy controls (HC; mean age = 38.2 ± 13 years, 164 women). FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: A 3.0-T, T1-weighted (spin echo and gradient echo without gadolinium injection) and T2-weighted spin echo scans at baseline and after 1 year (170 MS, 48 HC). ASSESSMENT: Structural Image Evaluation using Normalization of Atrophy (SIENA-X/XL; version 5.0.9), Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM-v12); and Jim-v8 (Xinapse Systems, Colchester, UK) software were applied to all subjects. STATISTICAL TESTS: In MS and HC, we evaluated the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) among FSL-SIENA(XL), SPM-v12, and Jim-v8 for cross-sectional whole-brain and GM tissue volumes and their longitudinal changes, the effect size according to the Cohen's d at baseline and the sample size requirement for whole-brain and GM atrophy progression at different power levels (lowest = 0.7, 0.05 alpha level). False discovery rate (Benjamini-Hochberg procedure) correction was applied. A P value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: SPM-v12 and Jim-v8 showed significant agreement for cross-sectional whole-brain (ICC = 0.93 for HC and ICC = 0.84 for MS) and GM volumes (ICC = 0.66 for HC and ICC = 0.90) and longitudinal assessment of GM atrophy (ICC = 0.35 for HC and ICC = 0.59 for MS), while no significant agreement was found in the comparisons between whole-brain and GM volumes for SIENA-X/XL and both SPM-v12 (P = 0.19 and P = 0.29, respectively) and Jim-v8 (P = 0.21 and P = 0.32, respectively). SPM-v12 and Jim-v8 showed the highest effect size for cross-sectional GM atrophy (Cohen's d = -0.63 and -0.61). Jim-v8 and SIENA(XL) showed the smallest sample size requirements for whole-brain (58) and GM atrophy (152), at 0.7 power level. DATA CONCLUSION: The findings obtained in this study should be considered when selecting the appropriate brain atrophy pipeline for MS studies. EVIDENCE LEVEL: 4. TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1.

Reduction in grey matter atrophy in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis following treatment with cladribine tablets.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Measures of atrophy in the whole brain can be used to reliably assess treatment effect in clinical trials of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Trials assessing the effect of treatment on grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) atrophy are very informative, but hindered by technical limitations. This study aimed to measure GM and WM volume changes, using a robust longitudinal method, in patients with relapsing MS randomized to cladribine tablets 3.5 mg/kg or placebo in the CLARITY study. METHODS: We analysed T1-weighted magnetic resonance sequences using SIENA-XL, from 0 to 6 months (cladribine, n = 267; placebo, n = 265) and 6 to 24 months (cladribine, n = 184; placebo, n = 186). Mean percentage GM and WM volume changes (PGMVC and PWMVC) were compared using a mixed-effect model. RESULTS: More GM and WM volume loss was found in patients taking cladribine versus those taking placebo in the first 6 months of treatment (PGMVC: cladribine: -0.53 vs. placebo: -0.25 [p = 0.045]; PWMVC: cladribine: -0.49 vs. placebo: -0.34 [p = 0.137]), probably due to pseudoatrophy. However, over the period 6 to 24 months, GM volume loss was significantly lower in patients on cladribine than in those on placebo (PGMVC: cladribine: -0.90 vs. placebo: -1.27 [p = 0.026]). In this period, volume changes in WM were similar in the two treatment arms (p = 0.52). CONCLUSIONS: After a short period of pseudoatrophy, treatment with cladribine 3.5 mg/kg significantly reduced GM atrophy in comparison with placebo. This supports the relevance of GM damage in MS and may have important implications for physical and cognitive disability progression.

Clinically relevant profiles of myelin content changes in patients with multiple sclerosis: A multimodal and multicompartment imaging study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical relevance of individual profiles of cortical and white matter lesion myelin content changes combining magnetisation transfer imaging (MTI) and 11C-PiB-positron emission tomography (PET) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). METHODS: MTI and [11C]PiB-PET acquired in 19 patients with MS followed up over 2-4 months and in seven healthy controls (HCs), were employed to generate individual maps of cortical and white matter (WM) lesion myelin content changes, respectively. These maps were used to calculate individual indices of demyelination and remyelination, and to investigate their association with clinical scores. RESULTS: Cortical remyelination ranged between 1% and 5% of the total cortical volume (17%-45% of the cortical volume demyelinated at baseline). WM lesion remyelination ranged between 8% and 22% of the lesional volume. An extensive cortical remyelination was associated with a shorter disease duration (rho = -0.63, p = 0.01) and, in combination with WM lesion remyelination, explained 68%-70% of the variance of clinical scores (p < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Our multimodal and multicompartment approach allows us to explore single-patient cortical and WM lesion demyelination and remyelination, and to generate clinically relevant indices of myelin repair. These indices may be used as outcome measures in clinical trials, thus increasing the chance to identify successful promyelinating treatments in patients with MS.

Mild gray matter atrophy in patients with long-standing multiple sclerosis and favorable clinical course.

The mechanisms responsible for the favorable clinical course in multiple sclerosis (MS) remain unclear. In this longitudinal study, we assessed whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based changes in focal and diffuse brain damage are associated with a long-term favorable MS diseases course. We found that global brain and gray matter (GM) atrophy changes were milder in MS patients with long-standing disease (⩾30 years from onset) and favorable (no/minimal disability) clinical course than in sex-age-matched disable MS patients, independently of lesions accumulation. Data showed that different trajectories of volume changes, as reflected by mild GM atrophy, may characterize patients with long-term favorable evolution.

Evolution from a first clinical demyelinating event to multiple sclerosis in the REFLEX trial: Regional susceptibility in the conversion to multiple sclerosis at disease onset and its amenability to subcutaneous interferon beta-1a.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: In the REFLEX trial (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00404352), patients with a first clinical demyelinating event (FCDE) displayed significantly delayed onset of multiple sclerosis (MS; McDonald criteria) when treated with subcutaneous interferon beta-1a (sc IFN ß-1a) versus placebo. This post hoc analysis evaluated the effect of sc IFN ß-1a on spatio-temporal evolution of disease activity, assessed by changes in T2 lesion distribution, in specific brain regions of such patients and its relationship with conversion to MS. METHODS: Post hoc analysis of baseline and 24-month magnetic resonance imaging data from FCDE patients who received sc IFN ß-1a 44 µg once or three times weekly, or placebo in the REFLEX trial. Patients were grouped according to McDonald MS status (converter/non-converter) or treatment (sc IFN ß-1a/placebo). For each patient group, a baseline lesion probability map (LPM) and longitudinal new/enlarging and shrinking/disappearing LPMs were created. Lesion location/frequency of lesion occurrence were assessed in the white matter. RESULTS: At Month 24, lesion frequency was significantly higher in the anterior thalamic radiation (ATR) and corticospinal tract (CST) of converters versus non-converters (p < 0.05). Additionally, the overall distribution of new/enlarging lesions across the brain at Month 24 was similar in placebo- and sc IFN ß-1a-treated patients (ratio: 0.95). Patients treated with sc IFN ß-1a versus placebo showed significantly lower new lesion frequency in specific brain regions (cluster corrected): ATR (p = 0.025), superior longitudinal fasciculus (p = 0.042), CST (p = 0.048), and inferior longitudinal fasciculus (p = 0.048). CONCLUSIONS: T2 lesion distribution in specific brain locations predict conversion to McDonald MS and show significantly reduced new lesion occurrence after treatment with sc IFN ß-1a in an FCDE population.

[Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the inequalities in total mortality by country of birth]. / Gli effetti della pandemia di COVID-19 sulle disuguaglianze nella mortalità totale per Paese di nascita.

OBJECTIVES: to evaluate the impact on total mortality of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, by country of birth. DESIGN: historic cohort study based on administrative databases. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: the study is based on subjects included in the Base Register of Individuals of the Italian National Institute of Statistics on 01.01.2019, aged 35-64 years, and followed-up until 31.07.2021. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: age-standardized mortality rates were computed to analyse trends in overall mortality by country of birth grouped in three categories: 1. Italy and other high developed countries; 2. European countries with strong migratory pressure (EU-SMP); 3, non-European countries with strong migratory pressure (non-EU-SMP). Variations in mortality rates during the pandemic (March 2020-July 2021) with respect to the pre-pandemic period (January 2019-February 2020) were measured and compared across groups using mortality rate ratios (MRR) estimated by Poisson regression models, separately for men and women. RESULTS: the cohort includes 26,199,241 individuals, of whom 172,847 died during the follow-up. Over the whole period, mortality was consistently lower in individuals born in non-EU-SMP countries as compared to those born in Italy and other high developed countries. During the first pandemic wave (March-April 2020), individuals born in non-EU-SMP countries had higher excesses as compared to those born in Italy or other high developed countries (MRRs: 1.42 vs 1.28 in men and 1.30 vs 1.11 in women). Similar results were observed during the pandemic period October 2020-April 2021, when the MRRs were 1.37 vs 1.20 in men and 1.30 vs 1.11 in women. In the same period, the excess mortality among individuals born in EU-SMP did not significantly differ from that observed among those born in Italy and other high developed countries. CONCLUSIONS: in Italy, excess mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic was higher among immigrants born in non-EU-SMP countries as compared to the native population and immigrants born in high developed countries.

Gray matter atrophy cannot be fully explained by white matter damage in patients with MS.

BACKGROUND: Source-based morphometry (SBM) was recently used for non-random "patterns" of gray matter (GM) atrophy or white matter (WM) microstructural damage. OBJECTIVE: To assess whether and to what extent such patterns may be inter-related in MS. METHODS: SBM was applied to images of GM concentration and fractional anisotropy (FA) in MS patients (n = 41, median EDSS = 1) and normal controls (NC, n = 28). The same procedure was repeated on an independent and similar data set (39 MS patients and 13 NC). RESULTS: We found in MS patterns of GM atrophy and reduced FA (p < 0.05, corrected). Deep GM atrophy was mostly (70%) explained by lesion load in projection tracts and lower FA in posterior corona radiata and thalamic radiation. By contrast, sensorimotor and posterior cortex atrophy was less (50%) dependent from WM damage. All patterns correlated with EDSS (r from -0.33 to -0.56, p < 0.03) while the only cognition-related correlation was between posterior GM atrophy pattern and processing speed (r = 0.45, p = 0.014). Reliability analysis showed similar results. CONCLUSION: In relatively early MS, we found a close link between deep GM atrophy pattern and WM damage while sensorimotor and posterior cortex patterns were partially independent from WM damage and perhaps related to primary mechanisms. Patterns were clinically relevant.

Education inequalities in overall mortality during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

BACKGROUND: there is increasing concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected the most vulnerable individuals. OBJECTIVES: to determine whether education inequalities have widened during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. DESIGN: historic cohort study based on administrative databases. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: the study was based on subjects registered in the Base Register of Individuals on 01.01.2019, aged >=35 years, and followed-up until 30.06.2020. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: education inequalities in mortality before, during the first phase (March-April), and during the second phase (May-June) of the first pandemic wave in Italy were measured through the mortality rate ratios (MRRs). MMRs were estimated through negative binomial models. The interaction term between period and education was tested through the likelihood ratio test. RESULTS: the cohort included 37,976,670 individuals, and 719,665 of them died over the follow-up. In high pandemic areas, the MRR among less educated men were: 1.48 (95%CI 1.42-1.55) in the pre-pandemic period, 1.45 (95%CI 1.36-1.55) in the first phase and 1.42 (95%CI 1.30-1.56) in the second phase of the pandemic (p-value: 0.92). Corresponding figures among women were: 1.26 (95%CI 1.21-1.32), 1.39 (95%CI 1.30-1.49), and 1.35 (95%CI 1.23-1.48); p-value: 0.03. The MRRs substantially increased in the first pandemic phase among women aged 35-64 years (from 1.48 to 1.98; p-value; 0.011) and 65-79 years (from 1.22 to 1.51; p-value: 0.017). During the second phase, the MRRs returned to the values observed before the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: in Italy, education inequality in mortality widened during the COVID-19 pandemic among working-age women and those aged 65-79 years.

Automated lesion segmentation with BIANCA: Impact of population-level features, classification algorithm and locally adaptive thresholding.

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) or white matter lesions exhibit high variability in their characteristics both at population- and subject-level, making their detection a challenging task. Population-level factors such as age, vascular risk factors and neurodegenerative diseases affect lesion load and spatial distribution. At the individual level, WMH vary in contrast, amount and distribution in different white matter regions. In this work, we aimed to improve BIANCA, the FSL tool for WMH segmentation, in order to better deal with these sources of variability. We worked on two stages of BIANCA by improving the lesion probability map estimation (classification stage) and making the lesion probability map thresholding stage automated and adaptive to local lesion probabilities. Firstly, in order to take into account the effect of population-level factors, we included population-level lesion probabilities, modelled with respect to a parametric factor (e.g. age), in the classification stage. Secondly, we tested BIANCA performance when using four alternative classifiers commonly used in the literature with respect to K-nearest neighbour algorithm (currently used for lesion probability map estimation in BIANCA). Finally, we propose LOCally Adaptive Threshold Estimation (LOCATE), a supervised method for determining optimal local thresholds to apply to the estimated lesion probability map, as an alternative option to global thresholding (i.e. applying the same threshold to the entire lesion probability map). For these experiments we used data from a neurodegenerative cohort, a vascular cohort and the cohorts available publicly as a part of a segmentation challenge. We observed that including population-level parametric lesion probabilities with respect to age and using alternative machine learning techniques provided negligible improvement. However, LOCATE provided a substantial improvement in the lesion segmentation performance, when compared to the global thresholding. It allowed to detect more deep lesions and provided better segmentation of periventricular lesion boundaries, despite the differences in the lesion spatial distribution and load across datasets. We further validated LOCATE on a cohort of CADASIL (Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy) patients, a genetic form of cerebral small vessel disease, and healthy controls, showing that LOCATE adapts well to wide variations in lesion load and spatial distribution.

Deep gray matter volume loss drives disability worsening in multiple sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: Gray matter (GM) atrophy occurs in all multiple sclerosis (MS) phenotypes. We investigated whether there is a spatiotemporal pattern of GM atrophy that is associated with faster disability accumulation in MS. METHODS: We analyzed 3,604 brain high-resolution T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging scans from 1,417 participants: 1,214 MS patients (253 clinically isolated syndrome [CIS], 708 relapsing-remitting [RRMS], 128 secondary-progressive [SPMS], and 125 primary-progressive [PPMS]), over an average follow-up of 2.41 years (standard deviation [SD] = 1.97), and 203 healthy controls (HCs; average follow-up = 1.83 year; SD = 1.77), attending seven European centers. Disability was assessed with the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). We obtained volumes of the deep GM (DGM), temporal, frontal, parietal, occipital and cerebellar GM, brainstem, and cerebral white matter. Hierarchical mixed models assessed annual percentage rate of regional tissue loss and identified regional volumes associated with time-to-EDSS progression. RESULTS: SPMS showed the lowest baseline volumes of cortical GM and DGM. Of all baseline regional volumes, only that of the DGM predicted time-to-EDSS progression (hazard ratio = 0.73; 95% confidence interval, 0.65, 0.82; p < 0.001): for every standard deviation decrease in baseline DGM volume, the risk of presenting a shorter time to EDSS worsening during follow-up increased by 27%. Of all longitudinal measures, DGM showed the fastest annual rate of atrophy, which was faster in SPMS (-1.45%), PPMS (-1.66%), and RRMS (-1.34%) than CIS (-0.88%) and HCs (-0.94%; p < 0.01). The rate of temporal GM atrophy in SPMS (-1.21%) was significantly faster than RRMS (-0.76%), CIS (-0.75%), and HCs (-0.51%). Similarly, the rate of parietal GM atrophy in SPMS (-1.24-%) was faster than CIS (-0.63%) and HCs (-0.23%; all p values <0.05). Only the atrophy rate in DGM in patients was significantly associated with disability accumulation (beta = 0.04; p < 0.001). INTERPRETATION: This large, multicenter and longitudinal study shows that DGM volume loss drives disability accumulation in MS, and that temporal cortical GM shows accelerated atrophy in SPMS than RRMS. The difference in regional GM atrophy development between phenotypes needs to be taken into account when evaluating treatment effect of therapeutic interventions. Ann Neurol 2018;83:210-222.

Progression of regional grey matter atrophy in multiple sclerosis.

See Stankoff and Louapre (doi:10.1093/brain/awy114) for a scientific commentary on this article.Grey matter atrophy is present from the earliest stages of multiple sclerosis, but its temporal ordering is poorly understood. We aimed to determine the sequence in which grey matter regions become atrophic in multiple sclerosis and its association with disability accumulation. In this longitudinal study, we included 1417 subjects: 253 with clinically isolated syndrome, 708 with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, 128 with secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis, 125 with primary-progressive multiple sclerosis, and 203 healthy control subjects from seven European centres. Subjects underwent repeated MRI (total number of scans 3604); the mean follow-up for patients was 2.41 years (standard deviation = 1.97). Disability was scored using the Expanded Disability Status Scale. We calculated the volume of brain grey matter regions and brainstem using an unbiased within-subject template and used an established data-driven event-based model to determine the sequence of occurrence of atrophy and its uncertainty. We assigned each subject to a specific event-based model stage, based on the number of their atrophic regions. Linear mixed-effects models were used to explore associations between the rate of increase in event-based model stages, and T2 lesion load, disease-modifying treatments, comorbidity, disease duration and disability accumulation. The first regions to become atrophic in patients with clinically isolated syndrome and relapse-onset multiple sclerosis were the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus, followed by the middle cingulate cortex, brainstem and thalamus. A similar sequence of atrophy was detected in primary-progressive multiple sclerosis with the involvement of the thalamus, cuneus, precuneus, and pallidum, followed by the brainstem and posterior cingulate cortex. The cerebellum, caudate and putamen showed early atrophy in relapse-onset multiple sclerosis and late atrophy in primary-progressive multiple sclerosis. Patients with secondary-progressive multiple sclerosis showed the highest event-based model stage (the highest number of atrophic regions, P < 0.001) at the study entry. All multiple sclerosis phenotypes, but clinically isolated syndrome, showed a faster rate of increase in the event-based model stage than healthy controls. T2 lesion load and disease duration in all patients were associated with increased event-based model stage, but no effects of disease-modifying treatments and comorbidity on event-based model stage were observed. The annualized rate of event-based model stage was associated with the disability accumulation in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, independent of disease duration (P < 0.0001). The data-driven staging of atrophy progression in a large multiple sclerosis sample demonstrates that grey matter atrophy spreads to involve more regions over time. The sequence in which regions become atrophic is reasonably consistent across multiple sclerosis phenotypes. The spread of atrophy was associated with disease duration and with disability accumulation over time in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

SIENA-XL for improving the assessment of gray and white matter volume changes on brain MRI.

In this article, SIENA-XL, a new segmentation-based longitudinal pipeline is introduced, for: (i) increasing the precision of longitudinal volume change estimation for white (WM) and gray (GM) matter separately, compared with cross-sectional segmentation methods such as SIENAX; and (ii) avoiding potential biases in registration-based methods when Jacobians are used, with a smoothing extent larger than spatial scale between tissue-interfaces, which is where atrophy usually occurs. SIENA-XL implements a new brain extraction procedure and a multi-time-point intensity equalization step before performing the final segmentation that also includes separate segmentation of deep GM structures by using FMRIB's Integrated Registration and Segmentation Tool. The detection of GM and WM volume changes with SIENA-XL was evaluated using different healthy control (HC) and multiple sclerosis (MS) MRI datasets and compared with the traditional SIENAX and two Jacobian-based approaches, SPM12 and SIENAX-JI (a version of SIENAX including Jacobian integration - JI). In scan-rescan data from HCs, SIENA-XL showed: (i) a significant decrease in error, of 50-70% when compared with SIENAX; (ii) no significant differences in error when compared with SIENAX-JI and SPM12 in a scan-rescan HC dataset that included repositioning. When tested in a HC dataset with scan-rescan both at baseline and after 1 year of follow-up, SIENA-XL showed: (i) significantly higher precision (P < 0.01) than SIENAX; (ii) no significant differences to SIENAX-JI and SPM12. Finally, in a dataset of 79 MS patients with a 2 years follow-up, SIENA-XL showed a substantial reduction of sample size, by comparison with SIENAX, SIENAX-JI, and SPM12, for detecting treatment effects of 25, 30, and 50%. Hum Brain Mapp 39:1063-1077, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Reduced brain atrophy rates are associated with lower risk of disability progression in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis treated with cladribine tablets.

BACKGROUND: Neuroimaging studies have used magnetic resonance imaging-derived methods to assess brain volume loss in multiple sclerosis (MS) as a reliable measure of diffuse tissue damage. METHODS: In the CLARITY study ( ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00213135), the effect of 2 years' treatment with cladribine tablets on annualized percentage brain volume change (PBVC/y) was evaluated in patients with relapsing MS (RMS). RESULTS: Compared with placebo (-0.70% ± 0.79), PBVC/y was reduced in patients treated with cladribine tablets 3.5 mg/kg (-0.56% ± 0.68, p = 0.010) and 5.25 mg/kg (-0.57% ± 0.72, p = 0.019). After adjusting for treatment group, PBVC/y showed a significant correlation with the cumulative probability of disability progression (HR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.571, 0.787; p < 0.001), with patients with lower PBVC/y showing the highest probability of remaining free from disability progression at 2 years and vice versa. CONCLUSIONS: Cladribine tablets given annually for 2 years in short-duration courses in patients with RMS in the CLARITY study significantly reduced brain atrophy in comparison with placebo treatment, with residual rates in treated patients being close to the physiological rates.