. 2021 Aug 2;269(3):1282–1297. doi: 10.1007/s00415-021-10674-8

Table 2.

Commonly used tools for the assessment of neuroanatomical change in individuals with multiple sclerosis

Test	Function tested	Utility	Interpreting results
MRI [81]	MS disease activity in the brain	$∙$ Routine clinical practice (diagnosis, monitoring disease progression, prognosis); primary or secondary endpoint in intervention trials[82, 87]	$∙$ New MRI lesion formation indicates active inflammation/active disease in relapsing MS and may indicate poor treatment outcome $∙$ Presence of gadolinium-enhancing and spinal cord lesions at diagnosis predict long-term development of secondary progressive MS and physical disability and may influence initial treatment selection
OCT [100]	Neurodegenerative changes in the retina	$∙$ Routine clinical practice and clinical trials	$∙$ Thinning of retinal nerve fiber layer indicates MS disease progression [99, 101]

Test

Function tested

Utility

Interpreting results

MRI [81]

MS disease activity in the brain

∙

Routine clinical practice (diagnosis, monitoring disease progression, prognosis); primary or secondary endpoint in intervention trials[82, 87]

$∙$ New MRI lesion formation indicates active inflammation/active disease in relapsing MS and may indicate poor treatment outcome

$∙$ Presence of gadolinium-enhancing and spinal cord lesions at diagnosis predict long-term development of secondary progressive MS and physical disability and may influence initial treatment selection

OCT [100]

Neurodegenerative changes in the retina

∙

Routine clinical practice and clinical trials

∙

Thinning of retinal nerve fiber layer indicates MS disease progression [99, 101]

MRI magnetic resonance imaging, MS multiple sclerosis, OCT optical coherence tomography