Impact of advanced magnetic resonance imaging techniques on the precise diagnosis of multiple sclerosis

Abstract

A neurological disorder that affects many people globally, multiple sclerosis (MS) is mysterious and complicated. MRI is an efficient tool in diagnosing and monitoring MS, that enables visualizing the characteristic demyelinating lesions that are a hallmark of MS. To evaluate the effectiveness of DIR sequence in identifying MS lesions, we compared DIR sequences at both 1.5 and 3 T MRI scanners with FLAIR. The study spanned 6–9 months at Ain Shams University, Egypt. The study comprised 50 individuals who had a confirmed diagnosis of MS. A cohort of 50 patients were divided between two MRI scanners: 25 at 1.5 T and 25 at 3 T. The group has 42 females (84% of the participants) and 8 males (16% of the participants). The average age was 31.5 years (±6.7) for those who underwent the 1.5 T MRI scan and 32.47 years (±6.7) for those who underwent the 3 T MRI scan. With p- values of 0.6 and 0.8, respectively, the results showed that there were no statistically significant variations in lesion size between DIR and FLAIR at 1.5 T and 3 T MRI scanners. With p- values less than 0.05, the results showed that DIR considerably outperformed FLAIR in terms of lesion intensity at both 1.5 T and 3 T. Regarding the number of lesions, the results demonstrated that DIR was more effective than FLAIR at both 1.5 T and 3 T, with p- values of 0.008 and 0.006 respectively. DIR has become an indispensable tool in diagnosing and managing multiple sclerosis. Comparing FLAIR to DIR showed superiority in detecting number of lesions and intensity of lesions by DIR.