RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Memory Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis Corresponds to Juxtacortical Lesion Load on Fast Fluid-Attenuated Inversion-Recovery MR Images JF American Journal of Neuroradiology JO Am. J. Neuroradiol. FD American Society of Neuroradiology SP 1956 OP 1962 VO 20 IS 10 A1 David Michael Moriarty A1 Alison Jane Blackshaw A1 Paul Robert Talbot A1 Helen Louise Griffiths A1 Julie Sarah Snowden A1 Valerie Fern Hillier A1 Stephen Capener A1 Roger David Laitt A1 Alan Jackson YR 1999 UL http://www.ajnr.org/content/20/10/1956.abstract AB BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: MR imaging is a sensitive diagnostic tool and paraclinical marker of disease activity and prognosis in multiple sclerosis (MS), yet the role of MR imaging of MS is controversial. The aim of this study was to describe the relationship between cognitive function and MS lesion size and position, as shown on comparative images from conventional spin-echo (CSE) and fast fluid-attenuated inversion-recovery (fast FLAIR) MR studies.METHODS: CSE and fast FLAIR sequences consisted of 40 noncontiguous, 3-mm-thick axial sections matched for geometric position in 18 patients with relapsing-remitting MS. Lesions were scored for size, anatomic position, and their comparative appearance on CSE and fast FLAIR images. The neuropsychological assessment tested general psychological performance, memory, and frontal lobe executive function.RESULTS: Fast FLAIR images showed significantly more small (146 versus six) and medium-sized (18 versus four) juxtacortical lesions than did CSE sequences. Small juxtacortical lesions displayed only on fast FLAIR images had a distinctive appearance, suggestive of small areas of perivascular inflammation. The number of these lesions corresponded to reduced performance on the fifth and delayed trials of the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning memory function test.CONCLUSION: Fast FLAIR images show small lesions at the juxtacortical boundary that are not seen on CSE studies. The presence of such lesions correlates with impaired retention of information in memory tasks, which is characteristic of cognitive problems in patients with MS.