By Maria A. Rocca
“Multiple Sclerosis – Update in Neuroimaging”
MRI is extensively applied in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) for diagnosis and disease monitoring. Conventional MRI measures, widely accepted as surrogate markers of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, are represented by the quantification of T2-hyperintense lesions and brain atrophy.
Recent technical improvements in MRI acquisition and analysis have resulted in the capability to identify, in-vivo, some of the pathological substrates of the disease, increasing imaging specificity. These include not only the presence of central vein sign and hypointense rim, the heterogeneous damage in different CNS regions, and iron accumulation, but also mechanisms of tissue recovery, such as remyelination. Combined with information derived from PET, this offers new perspectives in MS field, not only to ameliorate disease diagnosis, but also to assess the effects of novel treatments. This joint symposium at the EANM virtual congress, supported by EAN and ECTRIMS, will provide an update on this topic. Further details can be found on the EANM congress website.
