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Quantifying subclinical central nervous lesions in primary antiphospholipid syndrome: The role of magnetization transfer imaging
Author(s) -
Oliveira de Andrade Danieli Castro,
Borba Eduardo Ferreira,
Bonfá Eloísa,
Freire de Carvalho Jozélio,
José da Rocha Antônio,
Carlos Maia Antônio
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.21308
Subject(s) - subclinical infection , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , antiphospholipid syndrome , central nervous system , pathology , magnetization transfer , radiology , thrombosis , surgery
Purpose To define the role of magnetization transfer imaging (MTI) in detecting subclinical central nervous system (CNS) lesions in primary antiphospholipid syndrome (PAPS). Materials and Methods Ten non‐CNS PAPS patients were compared to 10 CNS PAPS patients and 10 age‐ and sex‐matched controls. All PAPS patients met Sapporo criteria. All subjects underwent conventional MRI and complementary MTI analysis to compose histograms. CNS viability was determined according to the magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) by mean pixel intensity (MPI) and the mean peak height (MPH). Volumetric cerebral measurements were assessed by brain parenchyma factor (BPF) and total/cerebral volume. Results MTR histograms analysis revealed that MPI was significantly different among groups ( P < 0.0001). Non‐CNS PAPS had a higher MPI than CNS PAPS (30.5 ± 1.01 vs. 25.1 ± 3.17 percent unit (pu); P < 0.05) although lower than controls (30.5 ± 1.01 vs. 31.20 ± 0.50 pu; P < 0.05). MPH in non‐CNS PAPS (5.57 ± 0.20% (1/pu)) was similar to controls (5.63 ± 0.20% (1/pu), P > 0.05) and higher than CNS PAPS (4.71 ± 0.30% (1/pu), P < 0.05). A higher peak location (PL) was also observed in the CNS PAPS group in comparison with the other groups ( P < 0.0001). In addition, a lower BPF was found in non‐CNS PAPS compared to controls (0.80 ± 0.03 vs. 0.84 ± 0.02 units; P < 0.05) but similar to CNS PAPS (0.80 ± 0.03 vs. 0.79 ± 0.05 units; P > 0.05). Conclusion Our findings suggest that non‐CNS PAPS patients have subclinical cerebral damage. The long‐termclinical relevance of MTI analysis in these patients needs to be defined by prospective studies. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.