http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00234/contents/01/00584/s002340100584ch002.html
Diagnostic Neuroradiology (2002)
44: 37-42
Abstract.
We studied 24 patients with multiple
sclerosis (MS) by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (1H-MRSI)
to assess the neurochemical pathology of the white-matter lesions (WML)
and normal-appearing white matter (NAWM).
Our 1H-MRSI technique allowed simultaneous
measurement of N-acetylaspartate (NAA), choline-containing compounds (Cho),
and creatine plus phosphocreatine (Cr) signal intensities from four 15-mm
slices divided into 0.84 ml single-volume elements.
In WML we found significantly lower
NAA/Cr and NAA/Cho ratios and a significantly higher Cho/Cr ratio than
in NAWM or control white matter.
In NAWM, NAA/Cr and Cho/Cr were significantly
lower than in control white matter.
1H-MRSI was compatible with damage
to myelin in WML, and with axonal damage and/or dysfunction in WML and
NAWM.
These findings extend data on involvement
of NAWM in MS beyond the abnormalities visible on MRI.
© Springer-Verlag 2001
G. Tedeschi (1, 2), S. Bonavita
(1, 2), H. F. McFarland (3), N. Richert (3), J. H. Duyn (4) and J. A. Frank
(4)
(1) Istituto di Scienze Neurologiche,
Seconda Università di Napoli, Piazza Miraglia 2, 80138 Napoli, Italy
(2) Department of Neuroimaging,
National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, National Institutes
of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
(3) Department of Neuroimmunology,
National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, National Institutes
of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
(4) Laboratory of Diagnostic
Radiology Research, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA