[Magnetic resonance and multiple sclerosis II. New diagnostic techniques]

Abstract

Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques have proved important in the diagnosis and in the follow-up in clinical trials of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, these techniques have low specificity for the pathological changes in the MS lesions, and the correlation between conventional MRI and the disability is poor. The last ten years have seen the development of new techniques with improved sensitivity and increased pathological specificity, such as magnetisation transfer imaging (MTI), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), diffusion-weighted imaging, and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). These techniques and their contribution to the knowledge about the pathophysiology of MS are described in this review.