Observational studyJournal of neurology2019
Spinal cord lesions are frequently asymptomatic in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a retrospective MRI survey.
Observational study in Journal of neurology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06827834 (A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Spinal Cord Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis), which is not on this map. Cited by 14 papers.
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.
A Prospective Longitudinal Study of Spinal Cord Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis: MRI Monitoring and Prognostic Factors for Active Disease
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 26 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical course of critical demyelinating lesion-associated progressive multiple sclerosis.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- MSpine: a prospective longitudinal study of spinal cord lesions in multiple sclerosis: MRI monitoring and prognostic factors for active disease. A study protocol.Neurological research and practice · 2026Article
- The epidemiology, pathology and pathogenesis of MS: Therapeutic implications.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Review
- Added value of spinal cord MRI in detecting active disease in non-relapsing progressive multiple sclerosis patients.Journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Neurodegeneration and Demyelination in the Multiple Sclerosis Spinal Cord: Clinical, Pathological, and 7T MRI Perspectives.Neurology · 2025Article
- Limited added value of systematic spinal cord MRI vs brain MRI alone to classify patients with MS as active or inactive during follow-up.Journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Spinal cord lesions in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: Prognostic value of intrathecal production of immunoglobulins.PloS one · 2025Article
- Spinal cord evaluation in multiple sclerosis: clinical and radiological associations, present and future.Brain communications · 2024Review
- The added value of spinal cord lesions to disability accrual in multiple sclerosis.Journal of neurology · 2023Article
- The no evidence of disease activity (NEDA) concept in MS: impact of spinal cord MRI.Journal of neurology · 2022Article
- Functional correlates of motor control impairments in multiple sclerosis: A 7 Tesla task functional MRI study.Human brain mapping · 2021Article
- Recurrence and Prognostic Value of Asymptomatic Spinal Cord Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2021Article
- Clinical Presentation and Causes of Non-traumatic Spinal Cord Injury: An Observational Study in Emergency Patients.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Article
- Imaging of the Spinal Cord in Multiple Sclerosis: Past, Present, Future.Brain sciences · 2020Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSpinal cord (SC) involvement correlates with poor prognosis in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Nevertheless, there is no consensus on the use of SC-MRI at follow-up, mainly because of the belief that SC lesions are nearly always symptomatic.
objectivesThe aim of the present study was to investigate the frequency of asymptomatic SC combined unique activity (CUA, new/enlarging T2 or gadolinium-positive [Gd+] lesions) on MRI in a cohort of patients diagnosed with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) or relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS).
methodsWe retrospectively investigated all scans showing SC-CUA in patients with CIS or RRMS referred to a single Italian MS centre. We determined whether they were symptomatic and whether they had associated brain radiological activity.
resultsIn 340 SC-MRI scans with SC-CUA (230 patients), SC-CUA was asymptomatic in 31.2%; 12.1% of SC-CUA had neither clinical activity nor brain radiological activity (44.5% and 25.4%, respectively, considering only follow-up SC-CUA). At multivariate analysis asymptomatic SC-CUAs were associated with older age at onset (34.0 ± 10.37 vs 31.0 ± 9.99 years, p = 0.006), non-spinal onset (76.4 vs 47.4%, p < 0.001), lower EDSS score at MRI (1.8 ± 0.93 vs 2.4 ± 1.28, p = 0.001) and lower number of Gd+ SC lesions (0.1 ± 0.33 vs 0.3 ± 0.54, p = 0.04), compared to symptomatic SC-CUAs.
conclusionsA substantial proportion of our patients had SC-CUA without clinical symptoms and/or without concomitant brain MRI activity. In these patients, SC-CUA was the only sign of disease activity, suggesting that regular SC-MRI follow-up is required for reliable assessment of radiological activity and may improve the management of patients with MS.
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