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Periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) is a form of white-matter brain injury, characterized by the necrosis (more often coagulation) of white matter near the lateral ventricles. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] It can affect newborns and (less commonly) fetuses; premature infants are at the greatest risk of neonatal encephalopathy which may lead to this condition.
Most of the brain in MS is unaffected. Though obviously normal white matter appears normal under MRI, so does the NAWM white matter described in the next section. To establish a difference, normal white matter is named Non-lesional white matter (NLWM) [134] This normal white matter is reported to be around 56% of the total WM of the patients. [135]
Others classify them as hippocampal, cortical, and WM lesions, [23] and finally, others give seven areas: intracortical, mixed white matter-gray matter, juxtacortical, deep gray matter, periventricular white matter, deep white matter, and infratentorial lesions. [24] The distribution of the lesions could be linked to the clinical evolution [25]
Most MS findings take place inside the white matter, and lesions appear mainly in a periventricular distribution (clustered around the ventricles of the brain). Apart from white matter demyelination, the cortex and deep gray matter (GM) nuclei can be affected, together with diffuse injury of the NAWM. [13]
Currently, routine clinical follow-up and MRI neuroimaging surveillance is the standard by which patients are observed. [4] While treatment of MS disease modifying therapies have been given to some individuals with RIS, the majority opt for active surveillance and the appearance of clinical symptoms before commencing treatment, [5] as treatment is considered controversial.
Head CT showing periventricular white matter lesions. Leukoaraiosis is a particular abnormal change in appearance of white matter near the lateral ventricles. It is often seen in aged individuals, but sometimes in young adults. [1] [2] On MRI, leukoaraiosis changes appear as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) in T2 FLAIR images.
It affects the subcortical white matter, particularly that of the parietal and occipital lobes. PML destroys oligodendrocytes and produces intranuclear inclusions. It is similar to another demyelinating disease, MS, but progresses much more quickly. The breakdown of myelin is proportional to the degree of immunocompromise. [11]
In March 2017, ocrelizumab was approved in the United States for the treatment of primary progressive multiple sclerosis in adults. [22] [42] It is also used for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis, to include clinically isolated syndrome, relapsing-remitting disease, and active secondary progressive disease in adults. [42]