Assessment of brain atrophy as a promising marker of radiological activity in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: The measurement of brain atrophy in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) may be a marker of the disease activity. However, currently this method is not widely used in clinical practice. In the presented study, the relationship between lesions (T2) in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), including contrast-enhancing (Gd+), clinical relapses and no evidence of disease activity (NEDA-3) with volumetric changes was investigated. Methods: Clinical and MRI data from RRMS patients treated with cladribine tablets (CLAD) and alemtuzumab (ALEM) were retrospectively analyzed at 4 time points (pretreatment and 3 years of follow-up). Volumetric data were obtained using the FreeSurfer. Annual volumetric changes and new T2/Gd + lesions were pooled together to assess short-term relationships, baseline T2/Gd + lesions were correlated with 3-year volume changes and years with NEDA-3 and without NEDA-3 were compared. Results: The study included 33 patients treated with CLAD and 19 patients treated with ALEM. In the year-to-year analysis (n Conclusion: The results of the presented study suggested an association of increased brain atrophy with radiological activity rather than with relapsing disease activity. However, further studies with larger numbers of patients are needed to verify these associations more precisely.