Predicting cognitive impairment and psycho-emotional disorders in Multiple Sclerosis patients according to MRI findings

Abstract

Objectives. The aim of our study was to assess the probability of cognitive impairment (CI) in general and in separate domains, depression, anxiety and sleep disorders onset depending on their association with MRI findings in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Materials and methods. 137 patients with MS were enrolled into the study. All participants were divided into two groups: group A included study subjects with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and B consisted of patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS). Results. Participants with progressive forms of MS had a higher risk of CI development compare to the patients with RRMS (p=0,0361). Memory decline onset depended on the presence of the brain atrophy in combination with lesions of the parietal lobe (OR=2.74 (0.85-8.77), p <0.0001) in RRMS cases, furthermore, on presence of combined demyelination in temporal lobe with corpus callosum (OR=17.33 (2.92-103.02), p=0.0006) and parietal lobe separately (OR=7.5 (1.14-49.26), p=0.0239) in patients with SPMS. Conclusions. CI and psycho-emotional disorders can be predicted by means of MRI findings and potentially prevented.

Keywords

• multiple sclerosis
• cognitive impairment
• depression
• mri