MS also affects the peripheral nervous system
Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2018 7:09 am
This is a report from a German team using some kind of MRI named "magnetic resonance neurography":
https://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonli ... hic.6.aspx
Neurographic MRI Reveals Peripheral Nerve Lesions in MS Patients
Using a highly sensitive magnetic resonance imaging technique, researchers were able to see more peripheral nerve lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis, suggesting that demyelination may be occurring in the peripheral nerve system.
German researchers using magnetic resonance neurography (MRN) — an imaging method that provides high-resolution sequences that visualize peripheral nerves — have detected and quantified lesions suggestive of peripheral nerve demyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a team of German investigators reported in the October 10 online publication of Annals of Neurology.
It remains unclear, however, whether or not these are the result of an inflammatory process or related to spinal cord lesions.
Significantly more peripheral nerve lesions were found in a group of MS patients compared to a matched group of healthy controls, according to the study.
Current opinion is that pathological changes in MS are restricted to the central nervous system (CNS) and cranial nerves, but the new proof-of-concept study may offer new insights into the pathophysiology of the disease and help guide new treatment options, said lead author Jennifer Kollmer, MD, a neuroradiologist at Heidelberg University Hospital.
The results might also help explain why CNS MRI scans in some patients show only a few lesions or older, non-enhancing ones, despite severe or new clinical symptoms, she told Neurology Today.
“Although a few studies have suggested that the peripheral nervous system [PNS] might be affected in MS, ours is the first to prove frequent involvement of peripheral nerves in MS patients by high-resolution MRN, regardless of disease duration or medical treatment,” Dr. Kollmer said.
https://journals.lww.com/neurotodayonli ... hic.6.aspx
Neurographic MRI Reveals Peripheral Nerve Lesions in MS Patients
Using a highly sensitive magnetic resonance imaging technique, researchers were able to see more peripheral nerve lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis, suggesting that demyelination may be occurring in the peripheral nerve system.
German researchers using magnetic resonance neurography (MRN) — an imaging method that provides high-resolution sequences that visualize peripheral nerves — have detected and quantified lesions suggestive of peripheral nerve demyelination in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, a team of German investigators reported in the October 10 online publication of Annals of Neurology.
It remains unclear, however, whether or not these are the result of an inflammatory process or related to spinal cord lesions.
Significantly more peripheral nerve lesions were found in a group of MS patients compared to a matched group of healthy controls, according to the study.
Current opinion is that pathological changes in MS are restricted to the central nervous system (CNS) and cranial nerves, but the new proof-of-concept study may offer new insights into the pathophysiology of the disease and help guide new treatment options, said lead author Jennifer Kollmer, MD, a neuroradiologist at Heidelberg University Hospital.
The results might also help explain why CNS MRI scans in some patients show only a few lesions or older, non-enhancing ones, despite severe or new clinical symptoms, she told Neurology Today.
“Although a few studies have suggested that the peripheral nervous system [PNS] might be affected in MS, ours is the first to prove frequent involvement of peripheral nerves in MS patients by high-resolution MRN, regardless of disease duration or medical treatment,” Dr. Kollmer said.