ArticlePloS one2014
Multi-parametric spinal cord MRI as potential progression marker in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 101 citations in OpenAlex.
- Neuroimaging findings in preclinical amyotrophic lateral sclerosis models-How well do they mimic the clinical phenotype? A systematic review.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2023Pooled it
- Structural magnetic resonance imaging findings and histopathological correlations in motor neuron diseases-A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Pooled it
- The value of magnetic resonance imaging as a biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: a systematic review.BMC neurology · 2016Pooled it
- Translating state-of-the-art spinal cord MRI techniques to clinical use: A systematic review of clinical studies utilizing DTI, MT, MWF, MRS, and fMRI.NeuroImage. Clinical · 2016Pooled it
- Quantitative cervical cord MRI in spinal muscular atrophy: a sensitive imaging biomarker of disease evolution and treatment.Journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Review
- Cervical and thoracic spinal cord gray matter atrophy is associated with disability in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.European journal of neurology · 2024Article
- Moving toward elucidating alternative motor pathway structures post-stroke: the value of spinal cord neuroimaging.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Review
- Association between brain and upper cervical spinal cord atrophy assessed by MRI and disease aggressiveness in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Neuroradiology · 2023Article
- Comparison of spinal magnetic resonance imaging and classical clinical factors in predicting motor capacity in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Journal of neurology · 2023Article
- Multimodal MRI improves diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity to longitudinal change in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Communications medicine · 2023Article
- Feasibility of spinal cord imaging at 7 T using rosette trajectory with magnetization transfer preparation and compressed sensing.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Cervical spinal cord atrophy in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis across disease stages.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2023Article
- Review
- Generic acquisition protocol for quantitative MRI of the spinal cord.Nature protocols · 2021Article
- In vivo detection of microstructural spinal cord lesions in dogs with degenerative myelopathy using diffusion tensor imaging.Journal of veterinary internal medicine · 2021Article
- Neuroimaging in genetic frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.Neurobiology of disease · 2020Review
- Combined brain and spinal FDG PET allows differentiation between ALS and ALS mimics.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2020Article
- MRI Measurement of Upper Cervical Spinal Cord Cross-Sectional Area in Children.Journal of neuroimaging : official journal of the American Society of Neuroimaging · 2020Article
- Connectome-Based Propagation Model in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.Annals of neurology · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo evaluate multimodal MRI of the spinal cord in predicting disease progression and one-year clinical status in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. MATERIALS AND
methodsAfter a first MRI (MRI1), 29 ALS patients were clinically followed during 12 months; 14/29 patients underwent a second MRI (MRI2) at 11±3 months. Cross-sectional area (CSA) that has been shown to be a marker of lower motor neuron degeneration was measured in cervical and upper thoracic spinal cord from T2-weighted images. Fractional anisotropy (FA), axial/radial/mean diffusivities (λ⊥, λ//, MD) and magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) were measured within the lateral corticospinal tract in the cervical region. Imaging metrics were compared with clinical scales: Revised ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS-R) and manual muscle testing (MMT) score.
resultsAt MRI1, CSA correlated significantly (P<0.05) with MMT and arm ALSFRS-R scores. FA correlated significantly with leg ALFSRS-R scores. One year after MRI1, CSA predicted (P<0.01) arm ALSFSR-R subscore and FA predicted (P<0.01) leg ALSFRS-R subscore. From MRI1 to MRI2, significant changes (P<0.01) were detected for CSA and MTR. CSA rate of change (i.e. atrophy) highly correlated (P<0.01) with arm ALSFRS-R and arm MMT subscores rate of change.
conclusionAtrophy and DTI metrics predicted ALS disease progression. Cord atrophy was a better biomarker of disease progression than diffusion and MTR. Our study suggests that multimodal MRI could provide surrogate markers of ALS that may help monitoring the effect of disease-modifying drugs.
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