CMSC 2022 | Ensuring that standardized MRI protocols are widely used in MS care

At the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) congress 2022 in Maryland, David Li, MD, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, comments on the fact that standardized magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols are not being widely used in multiple sclerosis (MS) care. This was evident from a survey of 15 MRI centers in the province of British Columbia, in which only two were using protocols recommended by the CMSC. Other colleagues found similar results when looking worldwide. In fact, in 500+ centers only 10-12% of scans satisfied the CMSC criteria. The catchphrase “four Us (universal, useful, usable, and used)” conveys the elements needed to achieve the adoption of MRI protocols in centers. So far, Prof. Li thinks that the field has accepted that standardized MRI protocols are useful and usable; however, promoting that the standardized protocols should be used requires further work. Some improvements are seen in the ‘universal aspect’, with the recent publication of the MAGNIMS-CMSC-NAIMS consensus recommendations on the use of MRI in patients with MS (see https://www.mscare.org/page/MRI_protocol).