summary: In this magnetic resonance imaging study, the authors investigated whether the spatial location of brain lesions at study entry was a significant predictor of long-term clinical disability in a large population of people with primary progressive MS followed up for ten years. They found that patients who presented at study entry brain lesions localised within the motor and the associative tracts (pathways connecting different brain regions) were more likely to progress more quickly towards a significant level of disability, independently of their spinal cord damage.

authors: Bodini B, Battaglini M, De Stefano N, Khaleeli Z, Barkhof F, Chard D, Filippi M, Montalban X, Polman C, Rovaris M, Rovira A, Samson R, Miller D, Thompson A, Ciccarelli O.

source: J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2010 Jul 13. [Epub ahead of print]

weblink: click here

category: Imaging

related research news: click here

glossary: