Iron Deposition In The Precentral Gray Matter In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis:a Quantitative Study Using3D-enhanced Susceptibility-Weighted Angiography (Eswan)

Aim:The aim of our study was to quantify iron deposition in the precentral gray matter in MS patients using three-dimensional enhanced susceptibility-weighted angiography (3D-ESWAN) and to investigate the correlation of iron accumulation with disease duration, atrophy of the precentral gyrus and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores.Methods:We recruited33patients with diagnosis of clinically definite MS and31age-and sex-matched healthy controls who underwent conventional brain MRI and3D-enhanced T2*-weighted angiography (ESWAN) sequences. We obtained the mean phase values (MPVs) of the gray matter of the precentral gyrus on ES WAN-filtered phase images and the volume of the precentral gyrus on3D T1(SPGR) images. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient analysis was computed to investigate relations between the precentral gray matter mean phase values (MPVs) and disease duration and EDSS scores. We also assessed the correlation of the volume of the precentral gyrus with disease duration and EDSS scores. Student’s t-test was used to determine if there was a significant difference between the volumes of the precentral gyrus in MS patients compared to those of healthy controls.Results:1) The MPVs in the precentral gray matter in MS patients and controls were1870.83±56.61and1899.22±51.73respectively and had significant difference in the MS group vs. the control group (t=-2.09, p=0.04).2) Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient analysis showed that there was significant negative correlation between disease duration and the MPVs in the precentral gray matter (r=-0.365, p＝0.03).3) No correlation was found between the EDSS scores and the MPVs.4) We also found that there was a significant difference between the volume of the precentral gyrus in MS patients compared to healthy controls (t=-5.167, p<0.001). The mean volume of the precentral gyrus in MS patients was4368.55±867.78whereas in controls was5701.00±1184.03.5) There was a positive correlation between the volume of the precentral gyrus and MPVs (r=0.291, p=0.020). However, no correlation was found between volume of the precentral gyrus and EDSS or disease duration.Conclusion:Our study demonstrated that quantitative assessment of iron deposition in the precentral gray matter in MS patients can be measured using3D-ESWAN. Furthermore, disease duration was found to be a significant contributor to patients with MS. In addition we found that iron deposition of the precentral gray matter was correlated to atrophy of the precentral gyrus. However we did not find any correlation between volume of the precentral gyrus and disease duration or EDSS scores.