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Ultrahigh-field strength, T1-weighted magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition and multiple gradient echoes (MPRAGE) is highly sensitive for detecting multiple sclerosis (MS) plaques within the white and gray brain parenchyma, according to a study published online Feb. 20 in Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

In current clinical practice, T2-weighted MRI is commonly used to quantify the accumulated MS lesion load in the brain, whereas T1-weighted sequences are used to differentiate irreversible brain tissue damage, hyperintense lesions commonly called “black holes.” Black holes are associated with clinical worsening and cerebral atrophy. On spin-echo T1-weighted images, a proportion of T2 hyperintense lesions appears hypointense to the surrounding normal-appearing white matter for a long time, the researchers noted.... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1816

Dr. Yulan Ge of NYU has been using 7 Tesla MRI in MS studies for a few years. He is presenting his most recent research on MS at the International Society for Neurovascular Diseases in Orlando this week.

Dr. Ge has noted that there is a vascular connection to the damage he sees in MS brains, surrounding the venous wall. Here is his research from 2009-

We demonstrated markedly enhanced detection of unique microvascular involvement associated with most of the visualized MS lesions with abnormal signals on and around the venous wall on 7-T compared with 3-T MRI.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18541803

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