Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Alterations of neck vessel cross-sectional area in multiple sclerosis have been reported. Our aim was to investigate the evolution of the neck vessel cross-sectional area in patients with MS and healthy controls during 5 years.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-nine patients with MS (44 relapsing-remitting MS, 25 progressive MS) and 22 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were examined twice, 5 years apart, on a 3T MR imaging scanner using 2D neck MR angiography. Cross-sectional areas were computed for the common carotid/internal carotid arteries, vertebral arteries, and internal jugular veins for all slices between the C3 and C7 cervical levels. Longitudinal cross-sectional area differences at each cervical level and the whole-vessel course were tested within study groups and between patients with MS with and without cardiovascular disease using mixed-model analysis and the related-samples Wilcoxon singed rank test. The Benjamini-Hochberg procedure was performed to correct for multiple comparisons.
RESULTS: No significant cross-sectional area differences were seen between patients with MS and healthy controls at baseline or at follow-up. During the follow-up, significant cross-sectional area decrease was found in patients with MS for the common carotid artery–ICAs (C4: P = .048; C7: P = .005; whole vessel: P = .012), for vertebral arteries (C3: P = .028; C4: P = .028; C7: P = .028; whole vessel: P = .012), and for the internal jugular veins (C3: P = .014; C4: P = .008; C5: P = .010; C6: P = .010; C7: P = .008; whole vessel: P = .002). Patients with MS without cardiovascular disease had significantly greater change than patients with MS with cardiovascular disease for internal jugular veins at all levels.
CONCLUSIONS: For 5 years, patients with MS showed significant cross-sectional area decrease of all major neck vessels, regardless of the disease course and cardiovascular status.
ABBREVIATIONS:
- CCA
- common carotid artery
- CSA
- cross-sectional area
- CVD
- cardiovascular disease
- EDSS
- Expanded Disability Status Scale
- HC
- healthy controls
- HCCVD
- healthy controls with cardiovascular disease
- HCnoCVD
- healthy controls without no cardiovascular disease
- IJV
- internal jugular vein
- IQR
- interquartile range
- MSCVD
- patients with MS with cardiovascular disease
- MSnoCVD
- patients with MS without cardiovascular disease
- RRMS
- relapsing-remitting MS
- PMS
- progressive MS
- VA
- vertebral artery
- WV
- whole vessel
- MS
- multiple sclerosis
- ICA
- internal carotid artery
Footnotes
Disclosures: Giuseppe Baselli—UNRELATED: Employment: Politecnico di Milano, Comments: This work is part of my research duties as Full Professor of the Politecnico di Milano. Bianca Weinstock-Guttman—UNRELATED: Consultancy: Biogen Idec, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Novartis, Genentech, Celgene, EMD Serono; Grants/Grants Pending: Biogen, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Novartis, Genentech*; Payment for Lectures Including Service on Speakers Bureaus: Biogen, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Genentech. Robert Zivadinov—UNRELATED: Consultancy: Sanofi Genzyme, Novartis, Celgene, EMD Serono; Grants/Grants Pending: Biogen, Sanofi Genzyme, Novartis, Celgene, EMD Serono, Protembis*; Payment for Lectures Including Service on Speakers Bureaus: Sanofi Genzyme, Novartis, Celgene, EMD Serono. *Money paid to the institution.
Research reported in this publication was funded in part by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award Number UL1TR001412 and, in part, by the Annette Funicello Research Fund for Neurological Diseases and internal resources of the Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center. In addition, we received support from the Jacquemin Family Foundation.
The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
- © 2018 by American Journal of Neuroradiology
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