Abstract Details

Title Structural and Functional Connectivity Influence Regional Cortical Atrophy in Multiple Sclerosis

Topic Multiple Sclerosis

Presentation(s) S31 - MS and CNS Inflammatory Disease: Imaging (4:03 PM-4:14 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 004

Background Gray matter atrophy correlates with disability in MS. Evidence throughout neurodegenerative conditions suggests that atrophy spreads along structural and functional networks.

Objective

To investigate the influence of structural and functional connectivity on regional cortical atrophy in multiple sclerosis (MS) at baseline and over one year.

Design/Methods MEMPRAGE, multi-shell diffusion and resting state MRI data were collected from 64 relapsing remitting MS and 50 healthy controls (HC) on an ultra-high gradient CONNECTOM 3T scanner. Twenty-five MS subjects also underwent a one-year follow-up scan. The cortical surface was parcellated into 294 random regions of equal size. For each person with MS, cortical thickness was determined for parceled regions using Freesurfer and an atrophy measure was derived using HC cortical thickness data in a general linear model. Structural and functional connectomes were constructed from the HC dataset. A region’s atrophy exposure was defined as the mean atrophy of all regions connected to that region. Atrophy exposure was correlated with baseline regional atrophy and change in cortical thickness on follow-up MRI. To test the specific contribution of connectivity on regional atrophy, random regions were permuted to create random atrophy exposures for comparison.

Results In the MS group, baseline regional atrophy significantly correlated with structural (r=0.19, p=9.51x10^-4) and functional (r=0.25, p=1.66x10^-5) but not random (r=0.04, p=0.54; r=0.01, p=0.85) atrophy exposure. Change in cortical thickness over one year was not predicted by a region’s baseline atrophy exposure but correlated to changes in structural (r=0.48, p=5.65x10^-18) and functional (r=0.33, p=6.42x10^-9) atrophy exposure and not to changes in random (r=-0.05, p=0.43; r=0.07, p=0.22) atrophy exposure.

Conclusions Regional cortical atrophy in MS is associated with atrophy in structurally and functionally connected regions. Over one year, decreased regional cortical thickness is related to increased atrophy exposure, suggesting a temporal linkage of this phenomenon and a larger impact from the structural connectome.

Authors/Disclosures
Andrew Russo PRESENTER	Andrew Russo has nothing to disclose.
Kevin Patel, MD	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
Constantina Andrada Treaba, MD, PhD (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School)	Dr. Treaba has nothing to disclose.
Caterina Mainero, MD, PhD (Massacgusetts General Hospital)	The institution of Dr. Mainero has received research support from Genentech.
Eric Klawiter, MD, FAAN (Massachusetts General Hospital)	Dr. Klawiter has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving as a Consultant for Galen/Atlantica. Dr. Klawiter has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Genentech. Dr. Klawiter has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Banner Life Sciences. Dr. Klawiter has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for Greenwich Biosciences. Dr. Klawiter has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for OM1. Dr. Klawiter has received personal compensation in the range of $500-$4,999 for serving on a Scientific Advisory or Data Safety Monitoring board for TG Therapeutics. The institution of Dr. Klawiter has received research support from Biogen. The institution of Dr. Klawiter has received research support from Abbvie. The institution of Dr. Klawiter has received research support from Genentech.

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