article information

Iranian Journal of Radiology: Vol.11, issue 30th Iranian Congress of Radiology; e21325
published online: February 28, 2014
article type: Research Article
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5812/iranjradiol.21325
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The Relationship Between Cognitive Function and Brain Lesion Volumes in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

authors:

avatar Farzad Ashrafi 1 , avatar Hamidreza Haghighatkhah 2 , avatar Alireza Zali 1 , avatar Davood Ommi 1 , avatar Morteza Sanei Taheri 2 , avatar Hamidreza Moghassemi 3 , avatar Behruz Alizadeh 1 , avatar Behdad Behnam 1 , * , avatar Mehran Arabahmadi 1

Functional Neurosurgery Research Center, Tehran, IR Iran
Department of Radiology, Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran
Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran

how to cite: Ashrafi F, Haghighatkhah H, Zali A, Ommi D, Sanei Taheri M, et al. The Relationship Between Cognitive Function and Brain Lesion Volumes in Multiple Sclerosis Patients. I J Radiol. 2014;11(30th Iranian Congress of Radiology):e21325. https://doi.org/10.5812/iranjradiol.21325.

Abstract

Background:

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a critical role in diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) and detecting brain changes during the course of the disease, but many aspects of MR Imaging such as its relationship with MS disabilities has remained unrecognized yet. One of the MS disabilities is cognitive impairment (CI), with an incidence of about 45% to 60%.

Objectives:

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between cognitive function and the volume of the brain lesions by assessing some of the sub-items of cognition.

Patients and Methods:

We assessed cognition using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) Test and brain changes in 46 MS patients in whom brain changes were detected with 1.5 tesla MR Imaging. Brain lesions were classified in three regions consisting of juxtacortical, periventricular and infratentorial. Lesion volumes were estimated using MIPAV software. We used SPSS 20 for data analysis. Also, we classified patients according to age, gender, and education.

Results:

There were no significant correlation between total lesion volumes and MoCA score. But significant correlations between total lesion volumes with visuospatial/executive function were found in persons with higher education.

Conclusions:

White matter lesion volumes have influence on some of the cognition sub-items in MS patients. Furthermore, MRI determinants can be useful for clinicians to evaluate cognition in MS patients.

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