Incidence of Paraproteinaemia in Blood Donors

Pezzoli, A.; Pascali, E.; Zacchi, T.

doi:10.1159/000467213

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

(28 reference statements)

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“…Interpretation must be undertaken with caution, since these studies vary in design, study population, endpoint(s), and assay techniques. Several early studies were large surveys in clinically defined populations, such as blood donors (42, 44, 46) that were pivotal in identifying the subgroup of monoclonal gammopathy that was ultimately designated MGUS. Most are series based on patients referred to tertiary care centers for electrophoretic studies during a diagnostic evaluation because of a known or suspected M‐protein (29, 30, 39, 41).…”

Section: Prevalence Of Igm Mgus In Various Populationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic resonance imaging measures of brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis

Anderson

Fox

Miller

2006

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

103

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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely used to diagnose and monitor multiple sclerosis (MS). Although MRI-visible lesions are a key feature of MS, they are thought to correlate poorly with clinical progression. Neurodegeneration is increasingly being recognized as an important factor in the pathogenesis of MS, and MRI measures of brain atrophy have been suggested as surrogate markers of neuroaxonal loss and disease progression. This pathology may be more relevant to the progression of disability than focal inflammation. A number of MRI-based methods have been developed for the measurement of global and regional brain atrophy. Natural-history studies of MS and clinically isolated syndromes suggestive of MS have observed atrophy in these subjects above that seen in controls, over periods ranging from three months to years. Brain atrophy has also been incorporated as an outcome measure in therapeutic trials of disease-modifying treatments. This paper considers neuroaxonal loss and the pathological basis of brain atrophy, methods developed to quantify brain atrophy, the findings of natural-history and therapeutic studies, the relationship of brain atrophy to disability and cognition, and the future research directions and clinical applications of brain atrophy measurements. MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI) is established as a key investigatory tool for diagnosing multiple sclerosis (MS), and is increasingly used to monitor disease progression and provide outcome measures in therapeutic trials. Conventional MRI measures of lesions, representing inflammation and demyelination, have been found to correlate poorly with progression of disability. Postmortem and quantitative MR studies have confirmed that widespread abnormalities occur in normal-appearing brain tissue, and the role of axonal damage and neurodegeneration in the pathogenesis of MS has been highlighted. Neuroaxonal degeneration is irreversible and is likely a relevant mechanism of permanent disability. Measurement of tissue loss (atrophy) has been suggested as a marker of this pathology and may be a better marker of disease progression than conventional lesion measures. A number of MRI-based techniques used to measure central nervous system (CNS) atrophy in vivo have shown progressive brain atrophy above that seen in normal aging in subjects with clinically isolated syndromes (CIS) and MS. Such atrophy has been associated with disability progression. As a result, atrophy measures have been adopted as secondary outcomes in a number of trials of diseasemodifying drugs. This paper expands and updates the review by Miller et al (1) and addresses the pathology behind axonal damage, methods developed to measure brain atrophy, the findings of clinical studies that monitored brain atrophy, and the role of atrophy measures in MS research and clinical applications. While important studies have documented atrophy of the spinal cord and optic nerves in MS, this review will focus on brain atrophy. EVIDENCE AND MECHANISMS OF NEUROAXONAL DEGENERATION IN MSMicrosc...

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