Deep Gray Matter Atrophy Is a Clinically Relevant Marker of Neurodegeneration in MS

As clinical trials incorporate multiple measures of brain volume changes in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), these investigators conducted a multicenter study to characterize the spatiotemporal pattern of deep gray matter (DGM) injury in relation to disability. They recruited 1417 participants, including 253 with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), 708 relapsing-remitting (RR) MS, 128 secondary progressive (SP) MS, 125 primary progressive (PP) MS, and 203 healthy controls (HCs). Median follow-up was 2.4 years for MS patients and 1.8 years for controls; and 3604 MRI scans were analyzed.

At baseline, patients with SPMS had the lowest cortical and DGM volumes, followed by those with PPMS, RRMS, or CIS, and then HCs. Whole brain atrophy an…