Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Arterial and neck vessel system characteristics of patients with multiple sclerosis have not been previously investigated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the frequency of neck vessels and their cross-sectional areas (in square millimeters) between patients with MS and healthy controls.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, 193 patients with MS and 193 age- and sex-matched healthy controls underwent 2D TOF venography at 3T. The main arterial (carotid and vertebral), venous (internal jugular), and secondary neck vessels were examined at 4 separate cervical levels (C2/3, C4, C5/6, and C7/T1). The ANCOVA adjusted for age, body mass index, smoking status, hypertension, and heart disease was used to compare the differences between patients with MS and healthy controls.
RESULTS: After controlling for all confounding factors, patients with MS had significantly lower cross-sectional areas of the carotid arteries at the C2/3 (P = .03), C5/6 (P = .026), and C7/T1 (P = .005) levels as well as of the vertebral arteries at the C2/3 (P = .02), C4 (P = .012), and C7/T1 (P = .006) levels, compared with healthy controls. A higher frequency of secondary neck vessels was found at all 4 levels in patients with MS: C2/3 (12.9 versus 10, P < .001), C4 (9.1 versus 7.5, P < .001), C5/6 (7.8 versus 6.8, P = .012), and C7/T1 (8.8 versus 6, P < .001). The total cross-sectional areas of secondary neck vessels were also significantly higher at all 4 levels (P < .03). No significant differences in the cross-sectional areas of jugular veins were found between patients with MS and healthy controls.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with MS showed lower cross-sectional areas of the carotid and vertebral arteries and a higher frequency of secondary neck vessels and their cross-sectional areas compared with healthy controls.
ABBREVIATIONS:
- BMI
- body mass index
- CCA
- common carotid artery
- CSA
- cross-sectional area
- ECA
- external carotid artery
- HC
- healthy controls
- IJV
- internal jugular vein
- VA
- vertebral artery
Footnotes
Disclosures: Christopher Magnano—UNRELATED: Employment: General Electric, Comments: independent of the work presented in this article. Bianca Weinstock-Guttman—UNRELATED: Consultancy: Biogen Idec, Teva Neuroscience, EMD Serono, Novartis, Genzyme & Sanofi, Genetech*; Grants/Grants Pending: Biogen Idec, Teva Neuroscience, EMD Serono, Novartis, Genzyme & Sanofi*; Payment for Lectures Including Service on Speakers Bureaus: Biogen Idec, Teva Neuroscience, EMD Serono, Novartis, Genzyme & Sanofi, Genentech. Robert Zivadinov—UNRELATED: Consultancy: Genzyme-Sanofi, Novartis; Grants/Grants Pending: Genzyme-Sanofi, Intekrin-Coherus, Novartis, IMS Health*; Payment for Lectures Including Service on Speakers Bureaus: Genzyme-Sanofi, Novartis*. *Money paid to the institution.
This study was funded, 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. Research reported in this publication was also funded, in part, by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award No. UL1TR001412. 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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