Assessment of cervical spinal cord volume in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis

Authors

Saher Suleman, Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, United States of America.
Matthew Harwood, Department of Radiology, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, United States of America.
Paul Kang, Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, United States of America.
Ram Narayan, Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute at Phoenix Children's Hospital, Phoenix, AZ, United States of America; Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, United States of America. Electronic address: Neuropub@barrowneuro.org.
Jeremy N. Hughes, Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ, United States of America.Follow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

PURPOSE: Several studies of adult-onset multiple sclerosis (AOMS) patients have demonstrated that spinal cord volume loss is associated with disease progression and clinical disability. However, complementary studies of young patients with pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis (POMS) are lacking. Our retrospective study aimed to assess spinal cord volume in POMS patients compared with that in healthy controls. METHODS: Cervical spinal cord magnetic resonance images were evaluated for 20 POMS patients and 20 age- and sex-matched controls. Cross-sectional areas (CSAs) were measured at C2 and C7, along with the spinal cord average segmental area (CASA). The POMS group was further subdivided based on the presence or absence of spinal cord lesions, specifically C2 lesions. Pairwise area and volume comparisons were made across the different groups. RESULTS: No significant difference was found in CASA and CSA at C2 and C7 between POMS patients and comparative controls. However, CASA, CSA at C7, and estimated spinal cord volume were significantly lower in a small subset of POMS patients with C2 lesions (3 patients) than in controls (P = 0.001, 0.02, and 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: No significant difference was found in spinal cord areas and volumes between POMS patients and controls. This finding contrasts with spinal cord volume measurements in AOMS patients.

Publication Date

7-1-2022

Publication Title

Clinical imaging

E-ISSN

1873-4499

Volume

90

First Page

44

Last Page

49

PubMed ID

35914343

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/j.clinimag.2022.06.021

Recommended Citation

Suleman, Saher; Harwood, Matthew; Kang, Paul; Narayan, Ram; and Hughes, Jeremy N., "Assessment of cervical spinal cord volume in pediatric-onset multiple sclerosis" (2022). Neuroradiology. 5.
https://scholar.barrowneuro.org/neuroradiology/5