Open AccessBrain oxygen extraction fraction mapping in patients with multiple sclerosis
Author(s) -
Junghun Cho,
Thanh D. Nguyen,
Weiyuan Huang,
Elizabeth Sweeney,
Xin Luo,
İlhami Kovanlıkaya,
Shun Zhang,
Kelly M. Gillen,
Pascal Spincemaille,
Ajay Gupta,
Susan A. Gauthier
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.167
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1559-7016
pISSN - 0271-678X
DOI - 10.1177/0271678x211048031
Subject(s) - multiple sclerosis , white matter , quantitative susceptibility mapping , nuclear medicine , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , linear regression , lesion , relapsing remitting , pathology , radiology , psychiatry , machine learning , computer science
We aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of whole brain oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) mapping for measuring lesion specific and regional OEF abnormalities in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. In 22 MS patients and 11 healthy controls (HC), OEF and neural tissue susceptibility ( χ n ) maps were computed from MRI multi-echo gradient echo data. In MS patients, 80 chronic active lesions with hyperintense rim on quantitative susceptibility mapping were identified, and the mean OEF and χ n within the rim and core were compared using linear mixed-effect model analysis. The rim showed higher OEF and χ n than the core: relative to their adjacent normal appearing white matter, OEF contrast = -6.6 ± 7.0% vs. -9.8 ± 7.8% (p < 0.001) and χ n contrast = 33.9 ± 20.3 ppb vs. 25.7 ± 20.5 ppb (p = 0.017). Between MS and HC, OEF and χ n were compared using a linear regression model in subject-based regions of interest. In the whole brain, compared to HC, MS had lower OEF, 30.4 ± 3.3% vs. 21.4 ± 4.4% (p < 0.001), and higher χ n , -23.7 ± 7.0 ppb vs. -11.3 ± 7.7 ppb (p = 0.018). Our feasibility study suggests that OEF may serve as a useful quantitative marker of tissue oxygen utilization in MS.