Cognitive impairment and memory disorders in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis: the role of white matter, gray matter and hippocampus (original) (raw)

Cognitive disorders occur in up to 65 % of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients; they have been correlated with different MRI measures of brain tissue damage, whole and regional brain atrophy. The hippocampal involvement has been poorly investigated in cognitively impaired (CI) MS patients. The objective of this study is to analyze and compare brain tissue abnormalities, including hippocampal atrophy, in relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients with and without cognitive deficits, and to investigate their role in determining cognitive impairment in MS. Forty-six RRMS patients [20 CI and 26 cognitively preserved (CP)] and 25 age, sex and education-matched healthy controls (HCs) underwent neuropsychological evaluation and 3-Tesla anatomical MRI. T2 lesion load (T2-LL) was computed with a semiautomatic method, gray matter volume and white matter volume were estimated using SIE-NAX. Hippocampal volume (HV) was obtained by manual segmentation. Brain tissues volumes were compared among groups and correlated with cognitive performances. Compared to HCs, RRMS patients had significant atrophy of WM, GM, left and right Hippocampus (p \ 0.001).