Ultra-high-field imaging distinguishes MS lesions from asymptomatic white matter lesions

To investigate whether multiple sclerosis (MS) and non-MS white matter brain lesions can be distinguished by their appearance on 7 T T2*-weighted MRI. This was an observational study of 28 patients with MS and 17 patients with cerebral white matter lesions who did not have MS. Subjects were imaged using 7 T T2*-weighted imaging. White matter lesions were identified and analyzed for volume, location, and perivenous appearance. Out of 901 lesions identified in patients with MS, 80% were perivenous. In comparison, 19% of 428 lesions identified in patients without MS had a perivenous appearance. Seven-Tesla T2*-weighted MRI reliably distinguished all patients with clinically definite MS (>40% lesions appeared perivenous) from those without clinical MS (