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A Comparison Between the Sensitivities of 3‐mm and 5‐mm Thick Serial Brain MRI for Detecting Lesion Volume Changes in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis
Author(s) -
Rovaris Marco,
Rocca Maria Assunta,
Capra Ruggero,
Prandini Francesca,
Martinelli Vittorio,
Comi Giancarlo,
Filippi Massimo
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of neuroimaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1552-6569
pISSN - 1051-2284
DOI - 10.1111/jon199883144
Subject(s) - medicine , multiple sclerosis , lesion , magnetic resonance imaging , expanded disability status scale , nuclear medicine , radiology , pathology , psychiatry
In this longitudinal study the authors evaluated the sensitivity of 3‐mm and 5‐mm magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain in the detection of lesion load changes over time in multiple sclerosis (MS). The authors also correlated the changes detected with these two techniques with the changes in disability. Eighteen patients with MS underwent two MRI examinations of the brain‐one at entrance into the study and one follow‐up examination. At both sessions, images with 24 contiguous slices 5 mm thick and another with 40 contiguous axial slices 3 mm thick were consecutively acquired. On the same occasions, the patients' Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores were rated. MR images with slices 3 mm thick showed higher lesion loads than those with slices 5 mm thick at both entrance and follow‐up examinations (median, 13.4 vs 12.8 ml and 17.5 vs 17.0 ml, respectively; p < 0.0001). The correlation between MRI and EDSS changes was significant for both MRI acquisition schemes (3 mm, r = 0.64; 5 mm, r = 0.59). The data suggest that acquisition of thinner slices does not significantly increase the sensitivity of MRI of the brain in the detection of lesion load changes in MS.