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Seventy-seven patients with MS and 44 healthy controls were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. MR imaging investigation included volumetric, diffusion tensor imaging, perfusion weighted imaging, and Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping analyses. Deep gray matter structures were automatically segmented to obtain volumes and mean values for each MR imaging metric in the thalamus, caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus. Patients with MS showed a multifaceted involvement of the thalamus and basal ganglia, with significant atrophy of all deep gray matter structures. In the relapsing-remitting MS group, WM lesion burden proved to be the main contributor to volume loss for all deep gray matter structures.

Thirty-five thrombus analogs of different compositions were scanned with an MR imaging quantitative T2* mapping sequence. Two radiologists, blinded to thrombus composition, measured the thrombus-T2* relaxation time twice, at an interval of 2 weeks. Quantitative histologic evaluations of red blood cell content were performed. Inter- and intraobserver reproducibility of the thrombus-T2* relaxation time was assessed by calculating intraclass correlation coefficients. MR imaging quantitative T2* mapping can reliably identify the thrombus red blood cell content in vitro. This fast, easy-to-use sequence could be implemented in routine practice.