MRI study shows reduced brain atrophy in treated MS patients

May 2, 2008 MRI study shows reduced brain atrophy in treated MS patients Don Rauf -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Therapeutic treatment in the very early stages of multiple sclerosis can help patients reduce brain tissue loss and maintain function. Brain atrophy is a common symptom in the relapsing-remitting form of the disease. A five-year MRI study led by Dr. Omar Khan, a professor of neurology and director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Wayne State University in Detroit, has demonstrated that patients receiving glatiramer acetate experience significantly less brain tissue loss compared with those receiving other disease-modifying therapies. Dr. Khan and colleagues examined patients with low disability scores (3 or less according to the Expanded Disability Status Scale). Glatiramer acetate, marketed as Copaxone by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, was given to 121 patients, while 101 received high-dose interferon-β (HD IFNB) treatments and 53 received low-dose interferon-β (LD IFNB) treatments. Doctors performed brain MR on a 1.5T scanner at the outset of the disease-modifying therapies and then five years later.

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