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Prediction of long-term disability in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) is important for both patients and physicians. Several studies have been conducted to identify clinical characteristics such as relapse rate, gender or age in an attempt to predict long-term disability but correlations were only modest.
MRI techniques play an important role and can depict subclinical disease progression. The most established MRI parameters used in evaluating disease outcome and routinely used in clinical trials, include hyper-intensities on T2 weighted images, hypo-intensities in T1 weighted images and contrast enhancing lesions. New MRI techniques have been developed offering the prospect of greater specificity including measurements of brain volume. In search of more practical bed-side parameters Figueira et al. suggested the corpus callosum index (CCI) as a marker for brain atrophy in MS patients and demonstrated correlation of CCI and atrophy as measured with brain parenchymal fraction. The corpus callosum is the largest compact white matter fiber bundle of the brain which connects both hemispheres. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between CCI and long term disability evolution in MS.