Towards clinical translation of single-subject characterization of T1 changes to capture the extent of focal tissue damage in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Motivation: Multiple sclerosis involves both focal and diffuse tissue damage, necessitating rapid MRI methods that can be easily incorporated into clinical routine and can capture disease-specific microstructural changes. Goal(s): The purpose of this study was to capture the magnitude of qT1 changes within lesions. Approach: Using MP2RAGE, qT1 changes within lesions could be measured as T1 z-scores. Results: A total of n=3511 individual lesions were examined, of which 49.5% had a mean z-score greater than 2, reflecting deficient tissue integrity. The deficient volume fraction, reflecting the damage within the whole white matter, can be used to characterize the tissue destruction burden of MS patients. Impact: T1 mapping using a rapid MP2RAGE sequence can be incorporated into clinical practice to determine the severity of damage in multiple sclerosis lesions, particularly important for detecting disease severity of progressive forms of multiple sclerosis.