Spinal Cord Imaging in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (CordiALS)
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot study using novel MRI modalities in the spinal cord for the first time in patients with ALS, in order to better understand the mechanisms by which the motor system degenerates in the disease and determine their relationship with measures of patients’ clinical severity
IRAS ID
283095
Contact name
Samira Bouyagoub
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sussex
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) involves progressive destruction of the nerve cells controlling movement in the brain and the spinal cord, leading to increasing weakness and then death. Greater understanding of how and why these cells die using objective markers of disease activity (“biomarkers”) is urgently required to help identify new and effective treatments.
Advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) provides a way to monitor disease activity non-invasively and measure patients' response to potential therapies, as well as earlier diagnosis and predicted progression. Types of brain MRI scans called NODDI (Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging) and qMT (quantitative magnetisation transfer) have been able to show changes in the brain.
Spinal cord NODDI and qMT is more challenging, but could greatly improve understanding of how ALS affects the movement cells outside of the brain. Therefore, the CordiALS study will perform detailed NODDI and qMT imaging within the spinal cord for the first time in patients with ALS to better understand how the movement cells might die in the disease and also determine relationships between the scans and patients’ symptom severity in this incurable neurological condition.REC name
West Midlands - Solihull Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/WM/0042
Date of REC Opinion
30 Mar 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion