Abstract Details

Title Post-Mortem Neuroimaging in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Topic General Neurology

Presentation(s) P5 - Poster Session 5 (5:30 PM-6:30 PM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 7-029

Objective To establish a post-mortem, ex vivo MRI protocol for deceased patients with ALS.

Background Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been studied as a potential source of biomarkers in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS); however, the pathological underpinnings of MRI findings are not fully understood. Multiple pathological pathways contribute to the disease process and an understanding of their neuroimaging and clinical manifestations is crucial to the development and validation of a biomarker. This project will look at the feasibility of performing ex vivo MRI, evaluate the initial quality of the data, address potential challenges, and provide future directions.

Design/Methods Three post-mortem, ex vivo whole brains have been scanned in a Siemens 3T Prisma scanner. A custom-built image container was used and the brains were submerged in a proton-free fluid (Flourinert). A high resolution 3D MPRAGE sequence (TR = 2280ms, TE = 2.6ms, TI = 1150ms, flip angle = 10°, voxel size = 0.5 x 0.5 x 0.5 mm³, averages = 10) was acquired for all whole brains. Small sections (20 x 20 x 5 mm³) were serially cut from the brains and scanned with a TSE sequence (TR = 3200ms, TE = 118ms, voxel size = 0.125 x 0.125 x 1 mm³, averages = 6) and a DWI sequence (TR = 1500ms, TE = 68.6ms, number of diffusion-weighted directions = 6, number of averages = 10).

Results High-resolution structural images were successfully acquired. There was high qualitative gray/white contrast in the images. Few air bubbles remained trapped in ventricles and the sulci along the insular cortex that caused artifacts. Multiple averages successfully provided high SNR at high resolutions.

Conclusions

We demonstrate the feasibility of performing port-mortem, ex vivo MRI in ALS. Our future studies will focus on improving MRI acquisition protocols and correlating MRI findings with neuropathological data to elucidate their pathological significance.

Authors/Disclosures
Abdullah Ishaque PRESENTER	Abdullah Ishaque has nothing to disclose.
	No disclosure on file
Alan Wilman, PhD (University of Alberta)	No disclosure on file
	No disclosure on file
Sanjay Kalra, MD (University of Alberta)	The institution of Dr. Kalra has received research support from Brain Canada Foundation. The institution of Dr. Kalra has received research support from Biogen.

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