Comparative study on radiological features between serum aquaporin 4 antibody positive and negative neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder / 中华放射学杂志

Objective:To investigate the clinical and imaging differences between serum aquaporin 4 (AQP4) antibody positive and negative patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).Methods:The clinical data and radiologic findings of 89 NMOSD patients diagnosed at Beijing Tiantan Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2018 to June 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 17 male cases and 72 female cases, aged 18-74 years. According to the results of serum AQP4 antibody test, the patients were divided into AQP4 antibody positive group and AQP4 antibody negative group, and the differences in clinical data, lesion distribution, lesion characteristics, and brain area volume between the 2 groups were compared using independent sample t-test and χ 2 test, and the correlation between brain area volume and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) scores was further investigated using Spearman correlation analysis. Results:There were 68 cases in the AQP4 antibody positive group and 21 cases in the AQP4 antibody negative group. Patients in both groups were predominantly female, but the percentage of females in the AQP4 antibody-positive group (86.8%, 59/68) was higher than that in the AQP4 antibody-negative group (61.9%, 13/21), with a statistically significant difference (χ 2=4.91, P=0.027). The incidence of optic neuritis in AQP4 antibody negative group (66.7%, 14/21) was higher than that in antibody positive group (41.2%, 28/68), with a statistically significant difference (χ 2=4.18, P=0.041). In the distribution of intracranial lesions on MRI, the probability of lesions involving the brain stem in AQP4 antibody negative group (47.6%, 10/21) was higher than that in AQP4 antibody positive group (23.5%, 16/68), the difference had statistically significance (χ 2=4.50, P=0.034). The volumes of whole brain white matter, right amygdala, right accumbens-area and right ventral diencephalon in AQP4 antibody positive group were lower than those in AQP4 antibody negative group ( P<0.05), and the volumes of the right accumbens-area were negatively correlated with the EDSS scores in AQP4 antibody positive group ( r=-0.628, P=0.009). Conclusion:There are differences in clinical and imaging manifestations between AQP4 antibody positive and AQP4 antibody negative patients, which provides more basis for clinical in-depth understanding of NMOSD.

Research progress of ultra-high field strength 7.0 T magnetic resonance imaging in multiple sclerosis / 中华神经科杂志

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, and its pathogenesis is still unclear. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an effective tool for the diagnosis and monitoring of MS, and the identification of MS lesions is increasingly updated with the development of technology. In recent years, 7.0 T ultra-high field MRI has been widely used in MS. This review will make an overview of the research progress of 7.0 T ultra-high field MRI in MS in recent years.

Quantitative magnetic susceptibility imaging sequence for intracranial inflammation in patients with optic neuromyelitis / 中国医师进修杂志

Objective:To identify the potential intracranial inflammation in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders(NMOSD) patients without supratentorial MRI lesions using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM).Methods:Seventy NMOSD patients and 35 age- and gender-matched healthy controls (NC) underwent QSM, 3D-T 1, diffusion MRI from Beijing Tiantan Hospital during June 2019 to June 2021. Susceptibility was compared among NMOSD patients with acute attack (ANMOSD), NMOSD patients in chronic phase (CNMOSD) and NC. The correlation between susceptibility in several brain regions and the cerebrospinal fluid levels of inflammatory makers were analyzed. Results:NMOSD patients showed different susceptibility in several brain regions including bilateral hippocampus, precuneus, right cuneus, putamen, superior parietal and inferior temporal ( P<0.001) and the posr-hoc showed it is higher than normal. Compared to CNMOSD patients, the ANMOSD patients showed increased susceptibility in the cuneus (0.009 ± 0.004 vs. 0.005 ± 0.004, P<0.05). There was significant positive correlations between susceptibility and CSF levels of sTREM2 which reflect the active of microglial cells ( r = 0.494, P<0.05). Conclusions:Despite the absence of supratentorial lesions on MRI, increased susceptibility suggests underlying inflammation in the cerebral cortex in both patients with ANMOSD and CNMOSD, and some of them are obviously related to inflammatory markers in CSF. QSM sequence can be used to explore the potential inflammation in NMOSD patients without obvious supratentorial lesions.

Incidence of major autoimmune diseases of the nervous system in China / 中华神经科杂志

Autoimmune diseases of the nervous and muscle systems constitute a major disease category in neurology, characterized by high disability and heterogeneity. However, incidences for this group of disorders are still unknown in China at the national level. The emergence of the national Hospital Quality Monitoring System (HQMS) provides comprehensive data for epidemiological studies of rare diseases, and the systematism, accuracy and consistency during data collection of HQMS information provide a unique advantage for the investigation of the incidence of rare diseases. Currently, the incidence of major neurological autoimmune diseases based on HQMS has been accomplished and published. In conjunction with clinical practice and research progress of this field, the incidence studies of multiple sclerosis, neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, and myasthenia gravis are summarized. The completion of survey of disease incidence is instrumental to investigate the prevalence of this group of diseases. Ultimately, the outcome would benefit neurologists as well as health care policy makers.