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Characterizing iron deposition in multiple sclerosis lesions using susceptibility weighted imaging
Author(s) -
Haacke E. Mark,
Makki Malek,
Ge Yulin,
Maheshwari Megha,
Sehgal Vivek,
Hu Jiani,
Selvan Madeswaran,
Wu Zhen,
Latif Zahid,
Xuan Yang,
Khan Omar,
Garbern James,
Grossman Robert I.
Publication year - 2009
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.21676
Subject(s) - susceptibility weighted imaging , lesion , medicine , multiple sclerosis , magnetic resonance imaging , fluid attenuated inversion recovery , nuclear medicine , imaging biomarker , quantitative susceptibility mapping , phase imaging , hyperintensity , radiology , pathology , psychiatry , microscopy
Purpose To investigate whether the variable forms of putative iron deposition seen with susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) will lead to a set of multiple sclerosis (MS) lesion characteristics different than that seen in conventional MR imaging. Materials and Methods Twenty‐seven clinically definite MS patients underwent brain scans using magnetic resonance imaging including: pre‐ and postcontrast T1‐weighted imaging, T2‐weighted imaging, FLAIR, and SWI at 1.5 T, 3 T, and 4 T. MS lesions were identified separately in each imaging sequence. Lesions identified in SWI were reevaluated for their iron content using the SWI filtered phase images. Results There were a variety of new lesion characteristics identified by SWI, and these were classified into six types. A total of 75 lesions were seen only with conventional imaging, 143 only with SWI, and 204 by both. From the iron quantification measurements, a moderate linear correlation between signal intensity and iron content (phase) was established. Conclusion The amount of iron deposition in the brain may serve as a surrogate biomarker for different MS lesion characteristics. SWI showed many lesions missed by conventional methods and six different lesion characteristics. SWI was particularly effective at recognizing the presence of iron in MS lesions and in the basal ganglia and pulvinar thalamus. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2009;29:537–544. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.