Signal Intensity Evaluation in the Dentate Nucleus and Subcortical Gray Matter

Abstract

Purpose Several studies reported gadolinium deposition in the dentate nuclei (DN) and the globus pallidus (GP) that was associated to linear GBCA administrations rather than macrocyclic. It is therefore imperative to evaluate and assess the safety of cumulative administration of gadoterate meglumine (macrocyclic). Thus, T1-weighted images (T1WI) of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients longitudinally followed for 4 years were retrospectively analyzed. Methods In this study 44 patients, 10 with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), 24 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) and 10 primary-progressive MS (PPMS) were examined every 6 months (first four scans) and then with a 1-year interval (last two scans). Image processing consisted in reorienting unenhanced T1WI to standard space, followed by B1 inhomogeneity correction. A patient-specific template was then generated to normalize T1WI signal intensity (SI) and segment the DN and subcortical GM structures. All structures were then transformed to each patient space in order to measure the SI in each region. The cerebellar peduncles (CP) and semi-oval (SO) white matter were then manually delineated and used as reference to calculate SI ratios in the DN and subcortical GM structures. A linear mixed-effect model was finally applied to longitudinally analyze SI variations. Results The SI measurements performed in all structures showed no significant increases with the cumulative GBCA administration. Conclusion This study showed no significant SI increases within the DN and subcortical GM structures of longitudinally followed MS patients even with the cumulative administration of the macrocyclic GBCA gadoterate meglumine.