ELECTRONIC POSTER - ismrm

independent predictors of disability worsening at 8 years (r2=0.29) suggesting that thalamic damage predicts the long-term
accumulation of disability in MS.
Tuesday 13:30-15:30 Computer 77
13:30 4330. Cortical N-Acetyl Aspartate Predicts Long-Term Clinical Disability in Multiple
Sclerosis – a Longitudinal MR Spectroscopic Imaging Study
Xingchen Wu 1 , Lars G. Hanson 1,2 , Morten Blinkenberg 3 , Arnold Skimminge 1 , Per
Soelberg Sørensen 3 , Olaf Paulson 1,4 , Henrik Mathiesen 1,3
1 Danish Research Center for Magnetic Resonance, MR Dept., Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre,
Hvidovre, Denmark; 2 Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark;
3 Danish MS Research Center, Neurology Dept., Copenahgen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Denmark;
4 Dept. Neurology and Neurobiology Research Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Denmark
MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) provides in vivo information about neuronal loss or dysfunction by measuring N-acetyl aspartate
(NAA). This aim of this multi-slice echo-planar spectroscopic imaging study was to test the hypothesis that cortical NAA/Creatine
(Cr) is a potential predictor of neurological disability in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) by serial MRSI once every 6
months for 24 months. Clinical examinations including the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) were performed at baseline,
month 24, and year 7. We found that baseline cortical NAA/Cr ratio was negatively correlated with EDSS at month 24 and year 7. In
conclusion, cortical NAA/Cr in early RRMS predicts clinical disability in 7 years.
14:00 4331. The Correlation Between Whole-Brain N-Acetylaspartate Quantification and
Multiple Sclerosis Severity Score
Daniel Rigotti 1 , Nissa Perry 1 , Joseph Herbert 2 , Oded Gonen 1
1 Radiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; 2 Neurology, NYU School of Medicine,
New York, NY, United States
Due to its homogeneity, there remains no accurate way to quickly assess current disease status of relapsing-remitting multiple
sclerosis (RR-MS). We combine data from the Multiple Sclerosis Severity Scale (MSSS), an EDSS-based marker sensitive to small
lesions in eloquent areas, with whol-brain N-acetylaspartate (WBNAA), a marker specific for diffuse neurodegeneration in a large
cohort of MS patients (including ~50 clinically-confirmed benign). We show a near unanimous concurrence of the two methods in the
benign patients. Additionally, using the confirmed benigns as an internal standard,~20% of non-benigns meet the both definitions of
benign, which is similar to the accepted prevalence.
14:30 4332. Serial Whole-Brain N-Acetylaspartate Concentration in Multiple Sclerosis Patients
Daniel Rigotti 1 , Matilde Inglese 1 , Nissa Perry 1 , James Babb 1 , Joseph Herbert 2 , Oded
Gonen 1
1 Radiology, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States; 2 Neurology, NYU School of Medicine,
New York, NY, United States
The irreversible effects of multiple sclerosis are chiefly caused by neuronal loss. The global concentration of the neuron-specific
amino-acid derivative N-acetylaspartate (WBNAA1) has been shown to be a sensitive marker for diffuse neurodegeneration in crosssectional
studies. Here we show data from a year-long longitudinal study of nineteen newly-diagnosed MS patients where we detect a
significant and biologically relevant serial decline in WBNAA. This is the first time, to our knowledge, that quantifiable changes
reflecting ongoing pathogenesis have been measured in MS using WBNAA.
15:00 4333. Classification of Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Forms by 1H Magnetic Ressonance
Spectroscopy of
Cerebrospinal Fluid
Francesc Xavier Aymerich 1,2 , Julio Alonso 1 , Manuel Comabella 3 , Miquel E. Cabañas 4 ,
Mar Tintoré 3 , Xavier Montalban 3 , Alex Rovira 1
1 Unitat RM Vall Hebron (IDI), Hospital Vall Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; 2 Enginyeria de Sistemes, Automàtica i
Informàtica Industrial, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain; 3 Unitat Neuroimmunologia
Clínica, CEM Cat, Hospital Vall Hebron, Barcelona, Spain; 4 Servei Ressonància Magnètica Nuclear,
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
The purpose was the design of a fuzzy classifier to differentiate among primary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS), relapsing
remitting MS and non-MS conditions by 1H-NMR spectroscopy of cerebrospinal fluid. The design considered the fusion of classifiers
based on fuzzy decision trees. We considered three different datasets (aliphatic region, aromatic region and the aggregation of both
regions). We evaluated for each dataset the classifier performance by means of two classification quality indexes (correctness and
robustness). Results showed mean classification correctness and robustness in the intervals [0.92,1] and [0.34,0.50] respectively. The
aggregation of aliphatic and aromatic regions provided the best results.