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Brain tissue and myelin volumetric analysis in multiple sclerosis at 3T MRI with various in-plane resolutions using synthetic MRI

  • Diagnostic Neuroradiology
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Abstract

Purpose

Synthetic MRI (SyMRI) enables automatic brain tissue and myelin volumetry based on the quantification of R1 and R2 relaxation rates and proton density. This study aimed to determine the validity of SyMRI brain tissue and myelin volumetry using various in-plane resolutions at 3T in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods

We scanned 19 MS patients and 10 healthy age- and gender-matched controls using a 3T MR scanner with in-plane resolutions of 0.8, 1.8, and 3.6 mm. The acquisition times were 5 min 8 s, 2 min 52 s, and 2 min 1 s, respectively. White matter (WM), gray matter (GM), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and myelin and non-WM/GM/CSF (NoN) volumes; brain parenchymal volume (BPV); and intracranial volume (ICV) were compared between different in-plane resolutions. These parameters were also compared between both groups, after ICV normalization.

Results

No significant differences in measured volumes were noted between the 0.8 and 1.8 mm in-plane resolutions, except in NoN and CSF for healthy controls and NoN for MS patients. Meanwhile, significant volumetric differences were noted in most brain tissues when compared between the 3.6 and 0.8 or 1.8 mm resolution for both healthy controls and MS patients. The normalized WM volume, myelin volume, and BPV showed significant differences between controls and MS patients at in-plane resolutions of 0.8 and 1.8 mm.

Conclusions

SyMRI brain tissue and myelin volumetry with in-plane resolution as low as 1.8 mm can be useful in the evaluation of MS with a short acquisition time of < 3 min.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (Grant nos. 16K19852 and 16K10327); by a JSPS Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, resource, and technical support platforms for promoting research “Advanced Bioimaging Support” (Grant no. JP16H06280); by the Japanese Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine; by the program for Brain Mapping by Integrated Neurotechnologies for Disease Studies (Brain/MINDS) from the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED); by the AMED under grant number JP18lk1010025; and by the MEXT-Supported Program for the Private University Research Branding Project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan

    Laetitia Saccenti, Christina Andica, Akifumi Hagiwara, Mariko Yoshida Takemura, Shohei Fujita, Tomoko Maekawa, Koji Kamagata, Alice Le Berre, Masaaki Hori & Shigeki Aoki

  2. Department of Radiology, Université Paris Descartes, 12 rue de l’Ecole de Medecine, 75006, Paris, France

    Laetitia Saccenti & Alice Le Berre

  3. Department of Radiology, The University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, 7-3-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Akifumi Hagiwara, Shohei Fujita & Tomoko Maekawa

  4. Department of Neurology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 2-1-1, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8421, Japan

    Kazumasa Yokoyama & Nobutaka Hattori

Authors
  1. Laetitia Saccenti
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  2. Christina Andica
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  3. Akifumi Hagiwara
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  4. Kazumasa Yokoyama
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  5. Mariko Yoshida Takemura
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  6. Shohei Fujita
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  7. Tomoko Maekawa
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  8. Koji Kamagata
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  9. Alice Le Berre
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  10. Masaaki Hori
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  11. Nobutaka Hattori
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  12. Shigeki Aoki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Akifumi Hagiwara.

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All procedures performed in reports involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Saccenti, L., Andica, C., Hagiwara, A. et al. Brain tissue and myelin volumetric analysis in multiple sclerosis at 3T MRI with various in-plane resolutions using synthetic MRI. Neuroradiology 61, 1219–1227 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-019-02241-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-019-02241-w

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