High-resolution myelin water imaging in post-mortem multiple sclerosis spinal cord: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Loss of myelin in the spinal cord in multiple sclerosis (MS) is likely an important, and early, contributor to atrophy and associated disability. In vivo measurement of myelin is possible using myelin water fraction (MWF) imaging, but MWF has never been assessed in MS along the entire length of the spinal cord in vivo or in post-mortem tissue. OBJECTIVE: To assess the feasibility of measuring the distribution of MWF along the entire length of the spinal cord in post-mortem MS tissue using high-field MRI. METHODS: One formalin-fixed spinal cord from a female with secondary progressive MS (age: 78 years, disease duration: 25 years) was cut into 104 5-mm-thick cross sections along the entire length of the spinal cord from the cervico-medullary junction to the conus medullaris and imaged using a 64 echo T2 relaxation experiment at 7T. RESULTS: Myelin water maps showed cord anatomy in superb detail, white matter demonstrating a higher MWF than the grey matter. Anatomical variation in myelin distribution along cervical, thoracic and lumbar regions was observed. Lesions demonstrated myelin loss. CONCLUSION: Post-mortem myelin water imaging of formalin-fixed MS spinal cord is feasible.

Lobular panniculitis at the site of subcutaneous interferon beta injections for the treatment of multiple sclerosis can histologically mimic pancreatic panniculitis. A study of 12 cases.

BACKGROUND: Thrombosis, mucinosis and necrosis are well-described complications of subcutaneous interferon beta injections. METHODS: We report 12 incisional biopsies from subcutaneous interferon beta injection sites in 12 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients from a single neurologist's practice. RESULTS: We identified abscesses (two cases) or induration (two cases) in acute clinical lesions and lipoatrophy (eight cases) in chronic lesions (biopsied over a year after symptom onset at injection sites). Biopsies from three acute lesions showed vascular thrombosis, dermal mucinosis, lobular neutrophilic panniculitis, necrosis, calcification and hemosiderin deposition (biopsied 2 weeks to 2 months after symptom onset). Two cases contained sterile abscesses. Five of the eight chronic cases presented as hard, indurated lipoatrophy with livedo reticularis. Their biopsies showed subcutaneous calcification and lipoatrophy. Biopsies from the early calcific suppurative and late calcific atrophic phases histologically resembled the early and late phases of subcutaneous saponification in pancreatic panniculitis. CONCLUSIONS: Reactions at the site of subcutaneous interferon beta injections are common. Lipoatrophy can be clinically identified in 39 of 85 MS patients (46%) receiving subcutaneous interferon beta injections for 1 year or longer in our practice. A reaction to interferon should be considered in the differential diagnosis of biopsies that show features of pancreatic panniculitis.

Lobular panniculitis at the site of glatiramer acetate injections for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. A report of two cases.

Lipoatrophy and localized panniculitis have been described as rare complications of daily subcutaneous glatiramer acetate injections for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). We describe the biopsies from two MS patients in a single neurologist's practice who developed clinical lesions of lipoatrophy at the sites of subcutaneous glatiramer acetate injections. These biopsies showed a lobular panniculitis with lipoatrophy that more closely resembled lupus panniculitis than previous reports of localized panniculitis at glatiramer acetate injection sites. In one case, the area of clinical lipoatrophy continued to enlarge for 6 months after stopping glatiramer acetate therapy, before stabilizing at its current size for the last 8 months. Injection site reactions to glatiramer acetate should be considered in the differential diagnosis of biopsies that show a lupus panniculitis-like appearance. Our observations indicate that glatiramer acetate induced panniculitis is common and may continue to progress after therapy has stopped. In this single neurologist's practice, 64% of the patients receiving daily glatiramer acetate injections had clinical evidence of lipoatrophy or panniculitis. Of 100 consecutive patients receiving therapy for MS between February and November 2006, 14 patients were on glatiramer acetate, 9 of whom had clinical lipoatrophy.

Clinical exacerbation of multiple sclerosis following radiotherapy.

BACKGROUND: Radiation of the central nervous system in patients with demyelinating disease may have deleterious effects. OBJECTIVE: To describe a 30-year-old woman with multiple sclerosis who developed an attack of demyelination 2 months following radiotherapy for a parotid malignancy. RESULTS: Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated new hyperintense lesions that corresponded to both the localization of the patient's symptoms and to the area defined by the 50% isodose radiation field. CONCLUSION: Radiation treatment likely triggered an exacerbation of multiple sclerosis.