Filippi Massimo, Rocca Maria A, Comi Giancarlo
Department of Neurology, Scientific Institute and University Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
Lancet Neurol. 2003 Jun;2(6):337-46. doi: 10.1016/s1474-4422(03)00408-3.
Conventional MRI can improve accuracy in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and monitor the efficacy of experimental treatments. However, conventional MRI provides only gross estimates of the extent and nature of tissue damage associated with this disease. Other quantitative magnetic-resonance-based techniques have the potential to overcome the limitations of conventional MRI and, as a consequence, to improve our understanding of the natural history of MS. Magnetisation-transfer, diffusion-weighted, and functional MRI--as well as proton magnetic-resonance spectroscopy--are helping us to elucidate the mechanisms that underlie injury, repair, and functional adaptation in patients with MS. These techniques are substantially changing our understanding of how MS causes irreversible disability and should be used more extensively in clinical trials and in studies of disease progression.
传统磁共振成像（MRI）能够提高对多发性硬化症（MS）的诊断准确性，并监测实验性治疗的效果。然而，传统MRI仅能对与该疾病相关的组织损伤程度和性质进行大致评估。其他基于磁共振的定量技术有潜力克服传统MRI的局限性，从而增进我们对MS自然病程的理解。磁化传递成像、扩散加权成像、功能MRI以及质子磁共振波谱分析，正助力我们阐明MS患者损伤、修复及功能适应的潜在机制。这些技术正极大地改变我们对MS如何导致不可逆残疾的理解，应在临床试验及疾病进展研究中更广泛地应用。
