Table I.

Demographic,Clinical, and Structural Characteristics of Controls and Patients^a

	Controls (n = 12)	MS Patients (n = 23)	PValue
Age, y	43 ± 2.7	45 ± 8.5	.53
Sex (F/M)	9/3	18/5	.83b
Disease duration, y	—	12 ± 1.5	—
EDSS, median, range	—	4.0, 0-7.0	—
Number of relapses, median, range	—	4, 1-12	—
Right-hand grip test	33.0 ± 2.7	26.6 ± 2.0	.02c
Left-hand grip test	31.4 ± 2.8	25.7 ± 2.1	.04c
Right-hand 9-HPTd	18.2 ± 0.5	25.3 ± 3.1	.06c
Left-hand 9-HPTd	19.5 ± 0.4	31.7 ± 6.9	.01c
25-FWd	6.2 ± 0.2	17.0 ± 7.5	<.0001c
PASAT 3 s	42.08 ± 3.7	40.61 ± 3.5	.92c
PASAT 2 s	33.7 ± 3.6	33.3 ± 3.0	.93c
T2-LV (cm3)	—	18.2 ± 2.9	—
TI-LV (cm3)	—	14.4 ± 2.5	—
NBV (cm3)	1563.5 ± 20.4	1498.6 ± 20.0	.03
FA	0.43 ± 0.003	0.39 ± 0.007	<.0001
MD	8.2 × 10−4 ± 7 × 10−6	8.8 × 10−4 ± 11 × 10−6	.0001
LI	12.4 × 10−4 ± 8 × 10−6	12.7 × 10−4 ± 7 × 10−6	.008
L2L3	6.1 × 10−4 ± 7 × 10−6	6.8 × 10−4 ± 13 × 10−6	<.0001
GM volume	0.47 ± 0.008	0.37 ±0.01	<.0001

Abbreviations: MS, multiple sclerosis; EDSS, Expanded Disability Status Scale; 9-HPT, 9-hole peg test; 25-FW, 25-foot walk; PASAT, Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test; T2-LV,T2-hyperintense lesion volume;TI-LV,TI-hypointense lesion volume; NBV, normalized brain volume; FA, fractional anisotropy; MD, mean diffusivity; LI, axial diffusivity; L2L3, radial diffusivity; GM, gray matter.

^aValues are reported as mean ± standard error and the significance was determined using an unpaired t test, unless stated otherwise.

^bPearson χ².

^cMann-Whitney U test.

^dMean of 2 consecutive trials.

Supplementary Figure S1 shows the distribution of WM lesions in the patient group. Patients had smaller NBVs than controls, and there was widespread microstructural damage with reduced GM volume and WM FA (Table 1, Figure 1).