Investigation of leptomeningeal enhancement in MS: A postcontrast FLAIR MRI study

Eisele, Philipp; Griebe, Martin; Szabo, Kristina; Wolf, Marc E; Alonso, Angelika; Engelhardt, Britta; Hennerici, Michael G; Gass, Achim (2015). Investigation of leptomeningeal enhancement in MS: A postcontrast FLAIR MRI study. Neurology, 84(8), pp. 770-775. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001286

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OBJECTIVE

To investigate possible leptomeningeal contrast enhancement using postcontrast fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI as an additional marker of inflammation in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

METHODS

A cohort of 112 patients (73 women) with clinically definitive MS or a clinically isolated syndrome suggestive of CNS demyelination were included. A pathologic control group of 5 stroke patients was also examined. MRI was performed on a 3T system including FLAIR, T2-weighted, T1-weighted-contrast injection, followed by T1-weighted and FLAIR.

RESULTS

Of the 112 patients, 39 had an acute relapse at the time of MRI. In total, 96 contrast-enhancing lesions were identified on postcontrast T1-weighted images. The pathologic control group demonstrated the sensitivity of postcontrast FLAIR images demonstrating leptomeningeal enhancement in all cases. In contrast, only 1 out of 112 examined patients with MS showed a single area of abnormal leptomeningeal contrast enhancement.

CONCLUSIONS

In contrast to intraparenchymal blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction that is frequently seen in patients with MS, BBB dysfunction of leptomeningeal vessels is usually not detectable in patients with early MS.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Theodor Kocher Institute

UniBE Contributor:

Engelhardt, Britta

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0028-3878

Publisher:

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

Language:

English

Submitter:

Ursula Zingg-Zünd

Date Deposited:

07 Apr 2015 13:35

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 14:44

Publisher DOI:

10.1212/WNL.0000000000001286

PubMed ID:

25616480

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.66316

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/66316

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