2021/6/28 15:34:45
An international panel of experts led by Prof. Mike P. Wattjes from the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) has developed new guidelines for imaging multiple sclerosis in routine clinical practice. The recommendations are supported by both the European and North American MS organizations and have been published in the renowned journal The Lancet Neurology. First and foremost, those affected benefit from this "instruction manual" for MRI use in MS. This is because the guideline ensures standardized patient care, giving precise recommendations on when, how and why an MRI should be performed. This concerns both the diagnosis as well as the observation of patients during therapy and the assessment of the prognosis of the course of the disease.
"These guidelines, which are internationally standardized for the first time, are a milestone in the care of MS patients," emphasizes Wattjes. "Not only do they include all aspects of MS imaging, we also comment in detail on very important and current topics such as the sensible use of contrast media or the technically demanding MRI of the spinal cord."
"The regulation is virtually the gold standard in MS imaging and is necessary for the images to be comparable at all," says the neuroradiologist. Because without mandatory standards, monitoring the course of the disease is more difficult, as it is hard to judge whether the typical tissue damage (lesions) in the brain and spinal cord have newly developed, or whether existing lesions have become larger or smaller. For the comparison of several MRI scans, it is therefore important that, for example, the spatial resolution of the images, contrast medium dose, magnetic field strength or positioning of the brain in the scanner have taken place under the same conditions.
However, the guidelines also mean an enormous relief for the treating physicians, Wattjes notes. They receive a specific application guideline for different patient groups and different stages of the disease - from children with MS to pregnant women to older patients in whom the disease no longer progresses in the typical relapses but insidiously. "Our international team has translated current research results into clinical practice and worked out exactly what makes sense for which patient at which point in time," says Wattjes. The precise instructions should now enable doctors to make better diagnoses, to individually and specifically monitor the effect of drugs against MS and to make reliable prognoses on the development of the disease.
(From admin)
Medical-in-China
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