Multiple sclerosis functional composite predicts thalamic atrophy in multiple sclerosis

In people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) thalamic atrophy is strongly associated with cognitive functions while inconsistent results have been shown with the expanded disability status scale (EDSS). This might depend on the fact that EDSS is too much weighted for motor deficits. To overcome these EDSS limitations, it was developed the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC) which includes the assessment of: i) leg function (Timed 25-Foot Walk/T25FT), ii) arm function (9-Hole Peg Test/9-HPT), iii) attention (Paced Auditory Serial Addition test/PASAT). Due to the well-known limitations of the PASAT, an alternative MSFC with the “Symbol Digit Modalities Test”(SDMT) instead of the PASAT, has also been proposed (MSFC-SDMT). The aim of this study is to investigate/compare the relationship between thalamic volume and disability measures (EDSS/MSFC/MSFC-SDMT) in pwMS.