Iron deposition in the precentral grey matter in patients with multiple sclerosis: a quantitative study using susceptibility-weighted imaging.

PURPOSE: Several studies suggest that iron deposition may play a role in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathology. Three-dimensional (3D) enhanced T2*-weighted angiography (ESWAN) at 3T was used to quantify iron deposition in the precentral grey matter in MS and its relationship with disease duration, atrophy and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores. METHODS: We recruited 33 patients with diagnosis of clinically definite MS and 31 age- and sex-matched healthy controls who underwent conventional brain MRI, 3D-ESWAN and 3D T1sequences. We obtained the mean phase values (MPVs) of the precentral grey matter on ESWAN-filtered phase images and volume of the precentral gyrus on 3D T1 images. We investigated the correlation between precentral grey matter MPVs, precentral gyrus volume, disease duration and EDSS scores of MS patients and healthy controls. RESULTS: The precentral grey matter MPVs in MS patients and controls were 1870.83 ± 56.61 and 1899.22 ± 51.73 respectively and had significant difference in the MS group vs. the control group (t=-2.09, P=0.04). There was significant negative correlation between precentral grey matter MPVs and disease duration (r=-0.365, P=0.03). No correlation was found between MPVs and EDSS scores. Mean precentral gyrus volume in MS patients was 4368.55 ± 867.78 whereas in controls was 5701.00 ± 1184.03 with significant difference between volume of the precentral gyrus in MS patients compared to healthy controls (t=-5.167, P<0.001). There was a positive correlation between MPVs and precentral gyrus volume (r=0.291, P=0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that quantitative assessment of abnormal iron deposition in the precentral grey matter in MS patients can be measured using 3D-ESWAN.

Iron deposition of the deep grey matter in patients with multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica: a control quantitative study by 3D-enhanced susceptibility-weighted angiography (ESWAN).

PURPOSE: Previous studies have detected abnormal iron deposition in the deep grey matter (DGM) of multiple sclerosis (MS). The regional specificity of the DGM iron deposition in neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is still unclear. We compared the differences in the DGM iron concentration between MS and NMO patients. METHODS: We enrolled 42 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients, 42 NMO patients and 42 healthy controls undergoing brain conventional MRI and three-dimensional (3D)-enhanced T(2)*-weighted angiography (ESWAN) sequences. We obtained the mean phase values (MPVs) for ESWAN-filtered phase images. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to compare MPVs among three groups. The correlations of MPVs changes with disease duration and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) were analyzed. RESULTS: The RRMS patients had higher DGM iron concentration than did the NMO and control groups, but only the bilateral substantia nigra (SN) showed a significant statistical difference among three groups (p<0.05). In the RRMS group, the iron concentration in the bilateral head of the caudate nucleus (HCN) (left: p<0.0001; right: p=0.0134) and the dentate nucleus (DN) (p<0.05 for both) were correlated with disease duration. In the NMO group, no correlation was found between the DGM iron concentration and disease duration (p>0.05). Furthermore, no correlations were found between the DGM iron concentration and EDSS (p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We confirm the iron concentration in the DGM iron content of MS patients is more than NMO patients and healthy controls in the same age range. Furthermore, the disease duration was found to be a significant contributor to patients with MS.