Lack of correlation between extracranial venous abnormalities and multiple sclerosis: a quantitative MRI study

Objective:We aimed to evaluate the presence of venous stenosis and blood flow abnormalities in the neck vessels of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), in respect to a group of age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HC), and their possible relations with clinical variables using a semi-automated quantitative MRI method.Methods:45 patients with relapsing remitting MS and 40 HC were enrolled in this study. Flow rates and cross-sectional areas of arterial and venous neck vessels were assessed by phase-contrast MRI at two different neck levels (C2–C3 and C6–C7), and differences between groups were evaluated with an unpaired t-test. Correlation between blood flow variables and clinical parameters was analyzed with Spearman's test.Results:A significant internal jugular vein (IJV) stenosis was found in 23/45 (51.1%) patients with MS and 18/40 (45.0%) HC. No differences were observed between patients with MS and HC for any of the flow measures obtained. No correlations were found between MRI measures and any of...