Whole brain and grey matter volume of Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis

•Japanese with multiple sclerosis (MS) showed faster brain atrophy than control.•Such brain atrophy was apparent already from the early stage of MS.•Brain atrophy could be milder and slower in Japanese MS than in Caucasian MS.•Rate of atrophy further accelerated once the disease converted to progressive type.•Age, duration, and grey matter volume similarly correlated with present EDSS.

We evaluated the brain volume and rate of atrophy in 85 Japanese patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The mean brain volume was smaller and the rate of atrophy appeared to be more rapid in MS patients than in normal subjects. The brain atrophy seemed to exist from the early stage of MS and was prominent in the grey matter. Patients with progressive MS showed severer atrophy. We show the existence of pathological brain atrophy in Japanese MS patients for the first time, although the rate of atrophy may be much slower than in Caucasian patients.

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