Role of MRI diffusion tensor imaging in assessment of response of normal-appearing white matter in case of multiple sclerosis.

Abstract

Summary And Conclusion Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediated, inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that leads to the irreversible disability The pathological hallmark of MS is the accumulation of demyelinating lesions that occur in the gray and white matter of the brain as well as diffuse neurodegeneration in the entire brain, even in normal-appearing white matter (NAWM). In the current study, The normal-appearing white matter of the brain on conventional MR sequences in MS patients was examined using diffusion tensor imaging parameters (FA, MD, and ADC), and the data were compared to the findings in normal age and sex-matched one control volunteer and correlated to each other and the morphologic changes detected on conventional sequences. These abnormal changes in values of FA, MD and ADC occur before developing signal abnormalities in conventional imaging.