Relaxation-weighted (23)Na magnetic resonance imaging maps regional patterns of abnormal sodium concentrations in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

OBJECTIVES: Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is established as a technical instrument for the characterisation of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The contribution of relaxation-weighted sodium ((23)NaR) MRI remains to be defined. The aim of this study is to apply (23)NaR MRI to investigate brain sodium homeostasis and map potential alterations in patients with ALS as compared with healthy controls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventeen patients with ALS (mean age 61.1 ± 11.4 years, m/f = 9/8) and 10 healthy control subjects (mean age 60.3 ± 15.3 years, m/f = 6/4) were examined by (23)NaR MRI at 3 T. Regional sodium maps were obtained by the calculation of the weighted difference from two image data sets with different echo times (TE(1) = 0.3 ms, TE(2) = 25 ms). Voxel-based analysis of the relaxation-weighted maps, together with (23)Na concentration maps for comparison, was performed. RESULTS: ROI-based analyses of relaxation-weighted brain sodium concentration maps demonstrated increased sodium concentrations in the upper corticospinal tracts and in the frontal lobes in patients with ALS; no differences between ALS patients and controls were found in reference ROIs, where no involvement in ALS-associated neurodegeneration could be anticipated. CONCLUSION: (23)NaR MRI mapped regional alterations within disease-relevant areas in ALS which correspond to the stages of the central nervous system (CNS) pathology, providing evidence that the technique is a potential biological marker of the cerebral neurodegenerative process in ALS.