OBJECTIVETo investigate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) feature of multiple cerebral sclerosis (MS) for better understanding and diagnosis of this disease.

METHODSThe MRI data of 32 patients with MS were reviewed. Conventional scanning with T1WI, T2WI, Flair sequence was performed, and 26 patients underwent Gd-DTPA enhanced scanning. The MS plaques were analyzed for their locations, sizes, shapes, MR signals and enhanced features, space-occupying signs, and the related corpus callosum changes and brain atrophy. Descriptive statistical method was used for all the data.

RESULTSMRI identified MS lesions in the brain in 30 cases, with the sensitivity of 93.75%. All the MS patients had multiple lesions with predilection sites of the cortical/juxtacortical and periventricle areas, the centrum semiovale, and the corpus callosum. Most of the MS plaques were round or oval of different sizes. Bilateral lesions were almost symmetrical in distribution. Twenty patients had "rectangular demyelination" and 12 had "dirty white matter" signs, and 11 had both manifestations. The lesions were isointense, slightly hypointense or hypointense on T1WI, and hyperintense on T2WI and Flair sequences. Most of the MS plaques presented no enhancement, with occasional nodular or circular enhancement. No or slight space-occupying effect was found in the plaques. Of the 28 MS patients undergoing sagittal scanning of the corpus callosum, 17 presented with abnormal signals, with the sensitivity of 60.71% (17/28). Five patients had corpus callosum atrophy, and 10 had brain atrophy of different degrees.

CONCLUSIONThese results suggest that the corpus callosum is often compromised by the MS lesions to present diffusive, nodular, radiating signal abnormalities and irregular ependymal thickening, which can be most obvious with sagittal FLAIR imaging.