TY - JOUR
T1 - Correlation between fatigue and brain atrophy and lesion load in multiple sclerosis patients independent of disability.
AU - Savettieri, Giovanni
AU - Salemi, Giuseppe
AU - Dinacci, Daria
AU - Servillo, Giovanna
AU - Valentino, Paola
AU - Di Costanzo, Alfonso
AU - Prinster, Anna
AU - Bresciamorra, Vincenzo
AU - Valentino, Paola
AU - Bonavita, Simona
AU - Paolillo, Andrea
AU - Simone, Isabella
AU - Alfano, Bruno
AU - Quarantelli, Mario
AU - Reggio, Arturo
AU - Orefice, Giuseppe
AU - Bonavita, Vincenzo
AU - Livrea, Paolo
AU - Patti, Francesco
AU - Messina, Corrado
AU - Quattrone, Aldo
AU - Salvatore, Marco
AU - Tedeschi, Gioacchino
AU - Brunetti, Arturo
AU - Lavorgna, Luigi
AU - Paciello, Marcantonio
AU - Coniglio, Gabriella
AU - Bellacosa, Alessandra
AU - Patti, Federico
PY - 2007
Y1 - 2007
N2 - Background: Fatigue is a major problem in multiple sclerosis (MS), and its association with MRI features is debated. Objective: To study the correlation between fatigue and lesion load, white matter (WM), and grey matter (GM), in MS patients independent of disability. Methods: We studied 222 relapsing remitting MS patients with low disability (scores ≤ 2 at the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale). Lesion load, WM and GM were measured by fully automated, operator-independent, multi-parametric segmentation method. T1 and T2 lesion volume were also measured by a semi-automated method. Fatigue was assessed by the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and patients divided in high-fatigue (FSS ≥ 5; n = 197) and low-fatigue groups (FSS ≤ 4; n = 25). Results: High-fatigue patients showed significantly higher abnormal white matter fraction (AWM-f), T1 and T2 lesion loads, and significant lower WM-f, and GM-f. Multivariate analysis showed that high FSS was significantly associated with lower WM-f, and GM-f. Females and highly educated patients were significantly less fatigued. Conclusion: These results suggest that among MS patients with low disability those with high-fatigue show higher WM and GM atrophy and higher lesion load, and that female sex and higher levels of education may play a protective role towards fatigue. Furthermore, they suggest that in MS, independent of disability, WM and GM atrophy is a risk factor to have fatigue.
AB - Background: Fatigue is a major problem in multiple sclerosis (MS), and its association with MRI features is debated. Objective: To study the correlation between fatigue and lesion load, white matter (WM), and grey matter (GM), in MS patients independent of disability. Methods: We studied 222 relapsing remitting MS patients with low disability (scores ≤ 2 at the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale). Lesion load, WM and GM were measured by fully automated, operator-independent, multi-parametric segmentation method. T1 and T2 lesion volume were also measured by a semi-automated method. Fatigue was assessed by the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and patients divided in high-fatigue (FSS ≥ 5; n = 197) and low-fatigue groups (FSS ≤ 4; n = 25). Results: High-fatigue patients showed significantly higher abnormal white matter fraction (AWM-f), T1 and T2 lesion loads, and significant lower WM-f, and GM-f. Multivariate analysis showed that high FSS was significantly associated with lower WM-f, and GM-f. Females and highly educated patients were significantly less fatigued. Conclusion: These results suggest that among MS patients with low disability those with high-fatigue show higher WM and GM atrophy and higher lesion load, and that female sex and higher levels of education may play a protective role towards fatigue. Furthermore, they suggest that in MS, independent of disability, WM and GM atrophy is a risk factor to have fatigue.
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10447/19978
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-510X
VL - 263
SP - 15
EP - 19
JO - Journal of the Neurological Sciences
JF - Journal of the Neurological Sciences
ER -