Postcontrast T2-weighted, fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MRI is a noninvasive method for testing in vivo markers of subpial demyelination and could be used to determine efficacy of new treatments aimed at eliminating this inflammation in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). This is the key finding of brain MRI studies collected from 299 MS patients and 37 age-matched neurologically healthy controls.
Expert raters evaluated radiography images and found:
• Focal gadolinium enhancement was present in the leptomeningeal compartment in 25% of MS cases, compared with 2.7% of controls.
• Enhancement was more frequent in patients with progressive MS compared to relapsing-remitting MS, 33% to 19%.
• Enhancing foci remained generally stable during an evaluation period of up to 5.5 years.
Citation: Absinta M, Vuolo L, Rao A, et al. Gadolinium-based MRI characterization of leptomeningeal inflammation in multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2015. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000001587.