Combined analysis of global and compartmental brain volume changes in early multiple sclerosis in clinical practice

Background:The extent and clinical significance of brain volume changes in different phases of multiple sclerosis (MS) is still under discussion.Objective:To determine the rate of global and compartmental brain volume changes in patients with a clinically-isolated syndrome (CIS) compared to patients with definite MS, by long-term follow-up and as a predictor of conversion to MS in a routine clinical setting.Methods:We investigated 120 patients (63 CIS and 57 MS) at baseline and after a mean follow-up period of 43 months, including detailed clinical examination and 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Our imaging analyses comprised the normalized brain volume (NBV), cortical grey matter (cGMV) and white matter (WMV) volumes using SIENA/X, the percentage of brain volume change (PBVC) using SIENA and the change in the volume of the thalami (TV) and basal ganglia (BGV). We also determined the amount and change of T2-lesion load (T2-LL).Results:At baseline, all the brain volume metrics, except cGMV, were ...