A Longitudinal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study of the Cervical Cord in Multiple Sclerosis

This study was performed to evaluate the correlation between changes of crosssectional cord area and disability in multiple sclerosis. Axial magnetic resonance images at the C‐5 spinal level were obtained at entry and 12 months later for 29 patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis. The degree of disability was inversely correlated at entry and follow‐up with the crosssectional area and the transverse diameter of the spinal cord. In addition, changes in disability correlated inversely with changes in cross‐sectional area (r = ‐0.4, p = 0.04). These findings suggest that cross‐sectional cord area at C‐5 might be a useful marker of disease evolution.