Table 1. Subjects.
| Controls | MRIpos | MRIneg | |
| Number of subjects | 20 | 20 | 15 |
| Age, [median (min-max)] | 48 (27–72) | 46 (20–66) | 57 (32–69) |
| Sex [M/F] | 5/15 | 6/14 | 1/14 |
| MS type [RR/SP/PP] | N/A | 12/7/1 | 10/3/2 |
| EDSS [Median (min–max)] | N/A | 3.25 (1.0–8.5) | 2.50 (0.0–6.5) |
| MSSS [Median (min–max)] | N/A | 3.74 (0.45–9.57) | 3.65 (0.05–9.38) |
| Disease duration year [Median (min–max)] | N/A | 13 (2–35) | 16 (2–44) |
| Number of MS lesions [Median (min–max)] | N/A | 16 (3–30) | 1 (0–20)††† |
| Brain Parenchyma Fraction (BPF) [Mean±SD] | 0.881±0.035 | 0.806±0.046 *** | 0.868±0.024 |
***p<0.001 compared to control group (2-sample t-test), †††p<0.001 compared to MRIpos (Mann-Whitney U test). The MS patients were divided in two groups; the MRIneg showed two or fewer T2-hyper-intense WM lesions, on a previous clinical MR examination, whereas the MRIpos fulfilled the ‘Barkhof-Tintoré criteria’ as defined in [13].