University of Parma
Department of Medicine and Surgery

Author Of 1 Presentation

Imaging Poster Presentation

P0600 - Longitudinal evolution of cortical lesions in an Italian cohort of multiple sclerosis patients (ID 731)

Speakers
Presentation Number
P0600
Presentation Topic
Imaging

Abstract

Background

Cortical lesions (CLs) have recently acquired a great relevance in multiple sclerosis (MS), both at diagnosis and during the monitoring of the disease, because of their impact on long-term prognosis. However, there is still limited knowledge about the evolution of CLs in time.

Objectives

The aim of the present observational study was to investigate, retrospectively, the longitudinal evolution of CLs number in comparison to FLAIR-T2 hyperintense white matter lesions (WMLs) in a cohort of MS patients in a single MS centre.

Methods

We included all consecutive patients with a relapse-onset MS referred to MS centre of Parma (Italy) who performed at least two MRI scans including double inversion recovery sequences from 2014 to 2019, collecting demographic, clinical and MRI data.

Results

We included 140 MS patients, 67.9% female, with the following characteristics at first MRI: relapsing-remitting (RR) course in 84.3% and secondary progressive (SP) in 15.7% of cases, mean age 40.1±10.49 years, mean disease duration 169.7±100.75 months, mean EDSS 2.5±1.30, mean number of WMLs 24.8±16.50 and of CLs 2.5±2.87. After a mean follow-up of 51.8±8.32 months we observed a conversion to SP phase in 2.1% and a 3-mo-confirmed EDSS progression in 13.6% of patients, with a mean EDSS of 2.6±1.48 and mean number of relapses of 1.1±1.95. During the follow-up only 3.6% of patients did not take any therapy, while 47.1% and 49.3% were on a first-line and a second-line disease-modifying treatment (DMT), respectively. Occurrence of ≥1 new WML or CL appeared in 37.9% and 12.9% of cases, respectively, with a mean number of new WMLs of 1.8±5.58 and new CLs of 0.2±0.6. New CLs never appeared without concomitant WMLs, but 44.4% of cases with new CLs occurred in patients with 1-2 new WMLs and 26.7% of patients with 1-2 new WMLs had ≥1 new CL. At multivariate analysis the risk of occurrence of new CLs was higher in patients with a higher number of new WMLs at last MRI (OR 1.44, CI95% 1.17-1.78, p=0.001) and lower in those who remained RR (OR 0.04, CI95% 0.002-0.76, p=0.03).

Conclusions

In our cohort we observed an overall low MRI activity, probably related to the high percentage of patients on DMT. New CLs appeared in a small percentage of patients and were strictly related to new WMLs. Nevertheless, they added clinical relevance to a consistent proportion of cases characterised by otherwise minimal MRI activity, with important implications for therapeutic switch.

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