An investigation of early relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients using diffusion tensor imaging and spectroscopy.

摘要

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of multiple sclerosis (MS) has shown evidence of both localized and widespread tissue damage in the brains of MS patients. Imaging at localized level may offer an insight into the mechanisms of fatigue in MS. Fatigue is reported to be the most common symptom in MS patients. Its cause, however, is still unknown. Whole brain imaging has shown evidence of widespread brain network disruption that may offer valuable markers of disease progression.;Potentially, results from these studies will assist physicians and researchers to better understand the underlying pathology of this multi-faceted disease.;The purpose of this dissertation is two fold: 1. To measure the brain metabolites in the pontine brainstem using MR spectroscopy in MS patients suffering from fatigue. 2. To investigate the network efficiency in brains of MS patients with low disability and various lesion loads using DTI tractography and graph theoretical analysis.