The usefulness of MRI in assessing brain atrophy for people suffer from multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Nowadays, volumetric and morphometric (VBM) techniques based on MRI data play a significant role in the research on neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of this work was to present the influence of age and gender on brain atrophy in patients ail to the most common demyelinating disease — multiple sclerosis (MS) — in the group of between 20–60-year-olds not treated with any disease-modifying drugs using VBM methods. MRI data of 31 patients obtained during the routine clinical work by MAGNETOM Aera 1.5T scanner were analysed. The faster decline of brain parenchymal fraction with age was observed in men than in women. VBM results showed that grey matter loss in significant regions of the brain such as visual cortex, SMA, caudate nucleus and the accumulation of damages can lead to the disability of patients.