Sally Mohamed Shaaban Elsheshtawy
Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting both white and gray matters of the central nervous system. It has been approved that the degree of gray matter involvement is closely associated with the degree of physical disability and the extent of cognitive impairment. Thus, it is necessary to incorporate widely available simple methods for neurocognitive evaluation and gray matter detection in the periodic assessment of MS patients that will influence treatment decisions. This study was conducted to assess the correlation of cortical lesions of multiple sclerosis (MS) at double inversion recovery (DIR) with cognition screening scores on 30 patients with MS.
All of them underwent MRI and clinical assessment with the calculation of Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), and Symbol Digit Modality Test (SDMT) scores. Results revealed that both MoCA and SDMT scales had a significant inverse correlation with cortical lesions number and total lesion load. Besides, there was a significant inverse correlation between these cognitive screening tests and varied cortical lesion subtypes and shapes. Interestingly, there was an excellent inter-observer correlation of cortical lesion number, total lesion load, different subtypes and shapes of cortical lesions. In conclusion, DIR can detect cortical lesions of MS which were well correlated with cognitive dysfunction as well as disability progression in these patients. Thus, DIR is found to be reliable and useful for clinical purposes to suspect cognitive dysfunction in MS patients.