Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Multiple sclerosis

Linking disability and spinal cord imaging outcomes in MS

In multiple sclerosis (MS), a clinicoradiological paradox exists whereby clinical and MRI measures show poor correlation. New findings suggest that quantitative imaging to assess microstructural changes in the spinal cords of patient with MS could overcome this paradox, and provide novel markers to monitor disease progression.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Filippi, M. & Rocca, M. A. Novel MRI approaches to assess patients with multiple sclerosis. Curr. Opin. Neurol. 23, 212–217 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Rocca, M. A. et al. Thalamic damage and long-term progression of disability in multiple sclerosis. Radiology 257, 463–469 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Oh, J. et al. Spinal cord quantitative MRI discriminates between disability levels in multiple sclerosis. Neurology 80, 540–547 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Rocca, M. A. et al. A multicenter assessment of cervical cord atrophy among MS clinical phenotypes. Neurology 76, 2096–2102 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Evangelou, N., DeLuca, G. C., Owens, T. & Esiri, M. M. Pathological study of spinal cord atrophy in multiple sclerosis suggests limited role of local lesions. Brain 128, 29–34 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Rocca, M. A. et al. Voxel-wise mapping of cervical cord damage in multiple sclerosis patients with different clinical phenotypes. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 84, 359–41 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Agosta, F. et al. In vivo assessment of cervical cord damage in MS patients: a longitudinal diffusion tensor MRI study. Brain 130, 2211–2219 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Newsome, S. D., Wang, J. I., Kang, J. Y., Calabresi, P. A. & Zackowski, K. M. Quantitative measures detect sensory and motor impairments in multiple sclerosis. J. Neurol. Sci. 305, 103–111 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Oh, J. et al. Multiparametric MRI correlates of sensorimotor function in the spinal cord in multiple sclerosis. Mult. Scler. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1352458512456614.

  10. Agosta, F., Pagani, E., Caputo, D. & Filippi, M. Associations between cervical cord gray matter damage and disability in patients with multiple sclerosis. Arch. Neurol. 64, 1302–1305 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Massimo Filippi.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

M. Filippi serves on scientific advisory boards for Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. and Genmab A/S; has received funding for travel from Bayer Schering Pharma, Biogen Idec, Genmab A/S, Merck Serono, and Teva Pharmaceutical; serves as a consultant to Bayer Schering Pharma, Biogen Idec, Genmab A/S, Merck Serono, and Teva Pharmaceutical; serves on speakers' bureaus for Bayer Schering Pharma, Biogen Idec, Genmab A/S, Merck Serono, and Teva Pharmaceutical; and receives research support from Bayer Schering Pharma, Biogen Idec, Genmab A/S, Merck Serono, Teva Pharmaceutical. M. A. Rocca serves as a consultant to Bayer Schering Pharma; and has received speakers' fees from Biogen Idec.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Filippi, M., Rocca, M. Linking disability and spinal cord imaging outcomes in MS. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 189–190 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.40

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.40

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing