summary: MS is a chronic inflammatory-demyelinating disease of the central nervous system, which starts with a slow but continuous damage in the brain and the spinal cord, consisting of demyelination and axonal loss, which may be reflected by the presence of continuous brain volume loss. However, the exact pathological processes that occur over time and their role at explaining clinical symptoms are not yet fully understood. In this study the authors aimed to investigate the rates of brain volume loss in 37 people with MS, with different disease durations and different types of MS, in order to assess whether the rate of brain volume loss was significantly different amongst the different groups (i.e. relapsing-remitting vs. secondary progressive vs. primary progressive, and short vs. long disease duration), after following them for ten years. They did this using different parameters relating to brain volume. They found that despite the presence of different types of MS, the rate of brain volume change was not different among individuals belonging to the different groups. Although some differences in this rate of volume loss were hinted at between different disease groups at the beginning of follow-up, they disappeared as time went by, suggesting that brain volume loss may occur independently from MS disease course.

authors: Martola J, Bergström J, Fredrikson S, Stawiarz L, Hillert J, Zhang Y, Flodmark O, Lilja A, Ekbom A, Aspelin P, Wiberg MK

source: Neuroradiology. 2009 Sep 23

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category: Imaging

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