Iron accumulation in the deep gray matter of patients with multiple sclerosis: A study with gradient echo magnetic resonance imaging

Objective: Iron accumulation in brain which can be imaged radiologically may play a role in multiple sclerosis (MS) pathogenesis. This study’s aim is to compare iron content in the deep gray matter regions between MS patients and controls and to examine the relation of iron accumulation with disability.
Method: Twenty four MS patients (mean age [±SD] 37.17±8.6 years) and 10 control subjects (mean age [±SD] 37.6±12.6 years) were included in the study. The expanded disability status scale (EDSS) scores among MS patients were recorded. Signal intensities in the caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, thalamus, substantia nigra and red nucleus were measured for all individuals by placing regions of interests (ROIs) on cranial Gradient Echo (GE) magnetic resonance imaging sequence.
Results: Deep gray matter signal intensity was found lower in MS patients compared to the control group for all anatomic regions that measured. It was seen that this difference reached statistically significant levels for the thalamus (p<0.05) and red nucleus (p<0.01).
Conclusion: Reports obtained from patients with MS purport pathological accumulation of iron and GE sequence can be a reliable method to define and monitor it.

Multipl skleroz hastalarýnda derin gri cevher demir birikimi: Gradyan-eko manyetik rezonans görüntüleme ile yapýlmýþ bir çalýþma

Amaç: Radyolojik olarak görüntülenebilen beyin demir birikimi, multipl skleroz (MS) patogenezinde rol oynayabilmektedir. Bu çalýþmada MS hastalarýnda derin gri cevher yapýlarýndaki demir içeriðinin kontrol grubu ile karþýlaþtýrýlmasý ve demir birikiminin dizabilite ile iliþkisinin incelenmesi amaçlanmýþtýr.
Yöntem: Çalýþmaya 24 MS hastasý (ortalama [±SS] 37.17±8.6 yaþ) ve hastalarla yaþ bakýmýndan benzer daðýlým gösteren 10 kontrol (ortalama [±SS] 37.6±12.6 yaþ) dahil edildi. MS hastalarýnýn “Expanded disability status scale” (EDSS) skorlarý hesaplandý. Tüm bireyler için kranial manteik rezonans görüntüleme gradyan eko (GE) sekansýnda; kaudat nukleus, putamen, globus pallidus, talamus, substantia
nigra ve red nukleus yapýlarýna “regions-of-interest” (ROIs) uygulanarak sinyal yoðunluðu ölçüldü.
Bulgular: Derin gri cevher sinyal yoðunluðu, ölçüm yapýlan tüm anatomik bölgeler için, MS hastalarýnda kontrol grubuna oranla düþük bulundu. Talamus (p<0.05) ve red nukleusta (p<0.01) bu farkýn istatistiksel olarak anlamlý olduðu görüldü.
Sonuç: Elde edilen bulgular; MS hastalarýnda patolojik demir birikimini desteklemekte, GE sekansýnýn bu yöndeki tespit ve izlem için uygun olduðunu düþündürmektedir.