Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) is an effective technology for imaging axonal damage in the brains of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. This is based on decreases in signals from N-acetyl groups, which come primarily from the neuronal marker, N-acetylaspartate (NAA). Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI) visualizes the spatial distribution of the NAA intensities in the brains of MS patients. It can be combined with conventional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and other clinical information in order to better understand the disease pathology. / This thesis comprises three independent but interconnected manuscripts concerning the application of MRSI and MRI to clinical researches in MS. (1) In the first, a statistical analysis strategy for multimodal analysis of MR spectroscopic images was developed. This method allowed for quantification of differences in images of different subgroups of MS patients and the relationship between chemical pathology, clinical disability, duration of disease, and lesions on T2-weighted MRI. (2) The statistical method was applied to serially collected MRSI data from 28 patients with MS (11 relapsing remitting (RR) and 17 secondary progressive (SP)) and 12 normal controls. Results showed that the NAA intensity was lower in the normal appearing white matter (NAVM) of MS patients than that in normal controls and the NAA intensity was 8.2% lower (p < 0.01) in the NAWM of SP than of RR patients. The decrease in NAA in NAWM over time correlated strongly (p < 0.001) with changes in disability in the RR subgroup. These results highlighted an association between axonal damage or loss and increasing disability in MS and suggested that accumulation of secondary axonal damage in the NAWM might be an important mechanism of functional impairment with this disease. (3) Finally, a computer package integrating spatial statistical methodologies adopted in this project and other image processing methods was developed. This package can also serve as a tool for medical imaging data organization, visualization, and manipulation. It will be used by researchers in the field to analyze functional imaging data.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.35704 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Fu, Liqun, 1964- |
| Contributors | Wolfson, Christina (advisor), Arnold, Douglas L. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001650663, proquestno: NQ50166, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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