Does MS grey matter atrophy progress faster in regions with more damage in connected white matter?

Completed

Conditions: multiple sclerosis
10012303

Registration Number: NL-OMON43307

Lead Sponsor: Vrije Universiteit Medisch Centrum

Brief Summary: Not available

Detailed Description: Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: Completed

Sex: Not specified

Target Recruitment: 55

Inclusion Criteria

Patient group:
1. Minimum age 18 years
2. Clinical definite relapsing remitting MS for < 5 years
3. Either receiving no treatment , or receiving first line treatment for at least 6 months
4. Expanded Disability Status Score (EDSS) * 5.0
5. Written informed consent ;Control group:
1. Minimum age 18 years
2. Written informed consent

Exclusion Criteria

1. Past or current clinical relevant non-MS neurological or psychiatric disorder(s)
2. Past or current clinical relevant (auto)immune disorder(s)
3. Treatment with first line therapy for less than 6 months
4. Treatment with second line therapy
5. Relapse and/or steroid treatment in past 3 months
6. Pregnancy
7. MRI incompatibility, e.g. metal objects in or around the body, claustrophobia or inability to lie still in the scanner

Study & Design

Study Type: Observational non invasive

Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>Three measures for WM damage will be assessed, i.e. lesion volume, lesion<br /><br>fractional anisotropy (FA) and NAWM FA, from which a composite WM damage score<br /><br>will be computed. High versus low WM damage scores will then be compared to the<br /><br>atrophy rates in the GM, based on subcortical volume and cortical thickness<br /><br>measures. From this, we can compare atrophy rates of each GM structure from<br /><br>baseline to follow-up 1 between the group of patients with higher damage in the<br /><br>WM tracts connected to that GM structure on the one hand, and the group of<br /><br>patients with lower damage in those WM tracts on the other.<br /><br>Similar calculations will be performed between follow-up 1 and follow-up 2 in<br /><br>order to determine whether a larger increase of WM damage over the first study<br /><br>year is predictive of faster subsequent GM atrophy in the second year. </p><br>

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
<p>Next to the measures for GM and WM damage, resting state functional<br /><br>connectivity measurements will be used to assess whether GM and WM damage<br /><br>patterns effect the functional organization of the brain at rest, either prior<br /><br>to GM/WM damage, or following the damage patterns observed.<br /><br>Furthermore, clinical measurements will be taken into account, in order to link<br /><br>the structural data to functionality of the brain in the RRMS patients. </p><br>