Source: MS Society
New research has found that MRI scans can help predict how MS will progress. MRI is already used to diagnose MS.
Results of a long-term study are being announced at the MS Society’s research conference, MS Frontiers 2017. The event brings together the UK’s leading scientists and clinicians every other year to share their latest findings.
Long-term insights
The study at the Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre ran for 15 years and involved 164 people with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). People with CIS have experienced one episode of neurological symptoms and often go on to be diagnosed with MS.
Researchers looked back at MRI scans carried out when people were first diagnosed with CIS. They found that early spinal cord damage was a sign that people were much more likely to go on to develop the secondary progressive form of MS.
They also discovered that having a spinal cord MRI scan not only helped with diagnosis, but also gave an insight into the level of disability a person was likely to face in the future.
The study was funded by the MS Society and led by Dr Wallace Brownlee and Professor Olga Ciccarelli. Read on.