Iron rim lesions linked to worse disability

Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) whose MRI scans show iron rim lesions (IRL) are likely to have more substantial disability, according to a new study.

IRLs are regions of chronic nervous system damage with ongoing inflammation. They are often called paramagnetic rim lesions or ‘smoldering’ lesions and have a rim caused by iron-laden inflammatory immune cells.

Location of these lesions however does not seem to affect the worse disability that they cause. The researchers in this study suggested that there could be a link between IRLs and nerve cell degeneration, but stressed a need for further research, noting that this analysis is limited by a relatively small sample size, with images taken at only one point in time, and focusing only on the brain and not the spinal cord.