No products in the cart.
Quick Take: Accuracy of Unenhanced MRI in the Detection of New Brain Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis
Gadolinium-based contrast material is typically used for follow-up imaging of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in order to detect new brain lesions. As magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques have improved in recent years, however, the need for gadolinium-based contrast material in detecting new lesions is now in question. In this retrospective cohort study, investigators analyzed data from 359 MS patients and 507 pairs of baseline and follow up MRI examinations in order to examine the effect of contrast material use on new lesion identification. With the use of subtraction maps, non-enhanced images and contrast material-enhanced T1-weighted images were separately assessed for new or enlarged lesions, in independent readings by two readers. Readers were blinded to each other’s findings to clinical information. Investigators found that new or enlarged lesions were identified on 264 of 507 follow-up MRI images (total of 1992 lesions), and 207 of these lesions were contrast enhancing. Of the 207 contrast-enhancing lesions, 203 (98.1%) were detected as new or enlarged lesions on non-enhanced MR images. No patients who had been detected to have disease progression through contrast-enhanced images were missed when only non-enhanced images were analyzed. The results of this study suggest that using contrast material does not necessarily provide higher sensitivity or improve clinical decision-making in terms of identifying disease progression in MS. This study, however, is limited in that it used a 3.0-T MRI and three-dimensional MRI sequences, and so its results may not be generalizable to other types of MRI.
Click to read the study in Radiology
Image: PD
©2019 2 Minute Medicine, Inc. All rights reserved. No works may be reproduced without expressed written consent from 2 Minute Medicine, Inc. Inquire about licensing here. No article should be construed as medical advice and is not intended as such by the authors or by 2 Minute Medicine, Inc.
RelatedReports
License Our Award-Winning Physician-Written Medical News and Visual Abstracts
2 Minute Medicine is the leading authoritative medical news licensing service, and the only with reports written by practicing doctors.
2 Minute Medicine® is an award winning, physician-run, expert medical media company. Our content is curated, written and edited by practicing health professionals who have clinical and scientific expertise in their field of reporting. Our editorial management team is comprised of highly-trained MD physicians. Join numerous brands, companies, and hospitals who trust our licensed content.