Diffusion Basis Spectrum Imaging of Tissue Microstructure and Early Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis

Objective

Conventional MRI cannot resolve the coexisting pathological processes within multiple sclerosis tissue. Diffusion Basis Spectrum Imaging decomposes the diffusion signal into fiber, cell, and hindered ratios indexing axonal integrity, cellularity, and extracellular space, respectively. We asked how these ratios differ between early relapsing and established non-relapsing disease, change with early treatment, and relate to disability, and secondarily, whether lesions form reproducible microstructural subtypes.