Cerebellar volume as imaging outcome in progressive multiple sclerosis

by Matilde Inglese, Maria Petracca, Enricomaria Mormina, Anat Achiron, Rebecca Straus-Farber, Shmuel Miron, Michelle Fabian, Stephen Krieger, Aaron Miller, Fred Lublin, Maria Pia Sormani

Background and purpose

To assess whether cerebellar volumes changes could represent a sensitive outcome measure in primary-progressive MS.

Material and methods

Changes in cerebellar volumes over one-year follow-up, estimated in 26 primary-progressive MS patients and 20 controls with Freesurfer longitudinal pipeline, were assessed using Wilcoxon test and tested for their correlation with disability worsening by a logistic regression. Clinical worsening was defined as EDSS score increase or change of >20% for 25-foot walk test or 9-hole peg test scores at follow-up. Sample sizes for given treatment effects and power were calculated. The findings were validated in an independent cohort of 20 primary-progressive MS patients.

Results

Significant changes were detected in brain T1 lesion volume (p Conclusions

Our results suggest a role for cerebellar cortex volume and cerebellar volume as potential short-term imaging metrics to monitor treatment effect in primary-progressive MS clinical trials.

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