Inflammatory Demyelination of Cortex Starts Early in MS

A new study suggests that, rather than being a late feature of the disease, cortical demyelinating lesions are common in patients in the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS). Using cortical tissue obtained during brain biopsy for other reasons, researchers found that cortical lesions were "frequent, inflammatory, and strongly associated with meningeal inflammation." "Our study shows the cortex is involved early in MS," Claudia F. Lucchinetti, MD, co-lead author of the study and a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota, told Medscape Medical News. "The cortex in some cases may even be the initial target."

Medscape, by Susan Jeffrey, 12/2011