In the last few years, increasing effort has been devoted to better define the characteristics of tissue damage occurring outside MRI-visible lesions in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and, as a consequence, to improve our understanding of the disease pathobiology and of the mechanisms leading to the accumulation of irreversible disability. This book provides an updated review of the results obtained by leading research groups in this field. The potential clinical applications of what has been shown so far, as well as the areas for future research in the study of normal-appearing white and gray matter damage in MS are extensively discussed, making this book a valuable tool for clinical neurologists who are involved in the daily-life care of MS patients and for neuroscientists involved in MS research.

From the reviews:

"A large part of the text concerns the various magnetic resonance (MR) techniques which have been investigated for use as tools for quantification of the heterogeneous pathological change in multiple sclerosis (MS). The editors have brought together authors from the discipline of neuropathology, neurology and MRI to summarize their work. A great deal of information is clearly and accurately presented. This book is aimed at neuroscientists . It may also be of interest to those treating patients with MS." (A. Campi, Neuroradiology, Vol. 48 (2), 2006)

Inhalt
Normal-AppearingWhite Matter.- 1 Pathology of the Normal-Appearing White Matter in Multiple Sclerosis.- 2 Measurement of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability in Multiple Sclerosis.- 3 Measuring and Interpreting White Matter Volume Changes in Multiple Sclerosis.- 4 Normal-Appearing White Matter Changes in Multiple Sclerosis: Magnetization Transfer.- 5 The Short T2 Component in Normal-Appearing White Matter in Multiple Sclerosis.- 6 Rapid, Whole-Brain T1 Relaxation Time Measurements for the Quantitative Definition of Pathological Changes in Multiple Sclerosis.- 7 Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of the Normal-Appearing White Matter in Multiple Sclerosis.- 8 The Relevance of Normal-Appearing White Matter Pathology in Multiple Sclerosis.- Normal-Appearing Grey Matter.- 9 Grey Matter Pathology in Multiple Sclerosis.- 10 Imaging Cerebral Grey Matter Volume in Multiple Sclerosis.- 11 The Grey Matter Component of MS Pathology: Magnetization Transfer and Diffusion-Weighted Imaging.- 12 MR Spectroscopy of the Normal-Appearing Grey Matter.- 13 Functional MRI in Multiple Sclerosis.