查看文章

Common symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) such as gait ataxia, poor coordination of the hands, and intention tremor are usually the result of dysfunctionality in the cerebellum. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has frequently failed to detect cerebellar damage in the form of inflammatory lesions in patients presenting with symptoms of cerebellar dysfunction.

To detect microstructural cerebellar tissue alterations in early MS patients with a “normal appearing” cerebellum using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).

A total of 68 patients with relapsing–remitting MS (RRMS) and without cerebellar lesions and 26 age-matched healthy controls were admitted to high-resolution MRI and DTI to assess microstructure and volume of the cerebellar white matter (CBWM).

We found cerebellar fractional anisotropy (FA) and CBWM volume reductions in the group of 68 patients. Interestingly, a …