Evidence of Axonal Damage in the Early Stages of Multiple Sclerosis and Its Relevance to Disability

Nicola De Stefano, Sridar Narayanan, Gordon S. Francis, Rozie Arnaoutelis, Maria C. Tartaglia, Jack P. Antel, Paul M. Matthews, Douglas L. Arnold
2001 Archives of Neurology  
Objective: To assess axonal damage and its contribution to disability at different stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). Background: Recent in vivo imaging and in situ pathologic studies have demonstrated that substantial axonal damage accompanies the inflammatory lesions of MS. However, the relation of axonal damage to the duration of MS and its contribution to disability at different stages of the disease remain poorly defined. Design: We performed proton magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging
more » ... in 88 patients with a wide range of clinical disability and disease duration to measure Nacetylaspartate (NAA, an index of axonal integrity) relative to creatine (Cr) in a large central brain volume that included mostly normal-appearing white matter on magnetic resonance imaging.
doi:10.1001/archneur.58.1.65 pmid:11176938 fatcat:lo6nvvc6ijgrjk77ddrss7zek4