IMAGING OF REMYELINATION

Now that the concept of remyelination is gaining acceptance in MS, the re is a need for a paraclinical marker to monitor remyelination in MS, for example to study the effect of therapeutical interventions. At pr esent there is no known imaging marker for remyelination. While positr on emission tomography (PET) has ample sensitivity and specificity, on appropriate tracer is locking and spatial resolution is poor. Magneti c resonance (MR) imaging has superior sensitivity and spatial resoluti on, but the standard techniques lock specificity. Conventional R-weigh ted images will most probably still appear abnormal in an area of remy elination. Among several newer MR techniques that ore more specific, m agnetization transfer contrast is the best candidate with regards to i maging remyelination. There is a strong need for on appropriate animal model and for histopathological confirmation to be able to further de velop both PET and MR.