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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: While brain MR imaging is routinely performed, the MR imaging assessment of spinal cord pathology in multiple sclerosis (MS) is less frequent in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to determine whether measurements of medulla oblongata volume (MOV) on routine brain MR imaging could serve as a biomarker of spinal cord damage and disability in MS.

Background: Benign multiple sclerosis (MS) is defined by minimal or no disability after many years of observation, therefore a less degenerative disease process is suspected to be present in this subset of patients. Objective: To compare brain atrophy rates in patients with long-standing benign MS vs typical early MS. Design: A longitudinal prospective cohort study and a retrospective database review. Setting: An academic MS center. Patients: Thirty-nine patients with clinically defined benign MS and an age-matched group of 40 patients with early relapsing-remitting MS. Main Outcome Measures: Baseline demographic, treatment, brain magnetic resonance imaging measures, and annualized atrophy rates, derived from serial brain pa-renchymal fraction measurements across 2 years, were compared.

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Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) after major orthopaedic surgery is a substantial concern. We asked whether the single or combined presence of thrombophilic genetic polymorphisms might further increase the already high risk for venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism (PE) after THA. We therefore compared the prevalence of factor V Leiden, prothrombin G20210A, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T and A1298C, and plasminogen activator inhibitor 4G/5G polymorphisms between 50 patients with symptomatic DVT within 3 weeks after elective THA and an asymptomatic control group of 85 patients. We found no major difference for the presence of a single mutation between the groups. Factor V Leiden and homozygous MTHFR C667T mutations were of borderline significance with odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 3.73 (0.89-15.63) and 2.93 (0.92-9.29), respectively. Patients with homozygous or combined heterozygous status of MTHFR C677T and A1298C mutation had a higher frequency of DVT after elective THA (odds ratio, 2.86; 95% confidence interval, 1.32-6.35) than those with wild-type.