Imaging sheds light on multiple sclerosis

A safe, noninvasive method for looking inside patients with MS offers promise for treating this complex disease

By Michael C. Purdy

More than a century after multiple sclerosis (MS) was first recognized as a distinct pathologic disorder, its hallmark continues to be its frustrating unpredictability. Francis Clark, diagnosed with the autoimmune condition in high school, has learned to live with it. According to Clark, “MS is simply a fact of life.”

MS symptoms — inflammation of the optic nerve, loss of muscle strength and balance problems, to name just a few — can cause a wide range of problems. No two people have the same experience with MS and, as Clark points out, a flare-up of one or more symptoms can happen at any time, with varying recovery times.

“It seems to happen in a three-year cycle or close to it,” she says of her own disease. “Sometimes I get better very quickly, and sometimes it takes a long time. It can be very frustrating, not just for me, but also for my family. ”

But the veil of unpredictability is finally starting to give way. Neurologists, radiologists and others at the School of Medicine have teamed up to show that an imaging technique, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), can help assess damage to the optic nerves from MS. Now they are working to apply the same technique to other MS lesions that lead to symptoms affecting a broad range of the body. The questions they are posing about MS may one day allow better prognostic information and contribute to identifying more effective treatments.