Magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging of acute spinal cord injury in spinal trauma

Background It was important to develop a non-invasive imaging technique for early evaluation of spinal cord integrity after injury; MRI was the method of choice for evaluation of any cord abnormalities. However, some patients have symptoms with no detectable abnormalities by MRI. The purpose of our...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Egyptian journal of radiology and nuclear medicine Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 70 - 13
Main Authors:	Alkadeem, Radwa Mohamed Diaa Eldeen Abd Alsamee, El-Shafey, Mohammad Hassan Rashad, Eldein, Ali Ebrahim Mohammad Seif, Nagy, Hanan Ahmad
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cairo Springer 02-03-2021 Springer Nature B.V SpringerOpen
Subjects:	Diagnostic imaging Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) Edema Fractional anisotropy (FA) Magnetic resonance imaging Medical research Medicine, Experimental Neurosurgery Patients Spinal cord injuries Spinal cord injury Trauma Asia
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Summary:	Background It was important to develop a non-invasive imaging technique for early evaluation of spinal cord integrity after injury; MRI was the method of choice for evaluation of any cord abnormalities. However, some patients have symptoms with no detectable abnormalities by MRI. The purpose of our study was to assess the role of diffusion tensor MRI in evaluating the integrity of spinal cord fibers in case of spinal trauma. Results Out of the studied 30 patients, conventional MRI revealed abnormalities in the spinal cord in 23 patients (76.67%), diffusion tensor tractography revealed abnormalities in the spinal cord in 27 patients (90%), the mean FA value at the level of injury (0.326±0.135) was less than the mean FA value (0.532 ± 0.074) in control group (p value < 0.001), and the mean ADC value at the level of injury (1.319 ± 0.378) was less than the mean ADC value (1.734 ± 0.768) in the control group. FA was sensitive than ADC in the detection of the spinal cord abnormalities with a sensitivity of 93.33% versus 67.66% respectively. Conclusion DTI can be used to detect structural changes of spinal cord white matter fibers in acute spinal cord injury. A significant decrease of fractional anisotropy and apparent diffusion coefficient has been found at the site of spinal cord injury.
ISSN:	0378-603X 2090-4762
DOI:	10.1186/s43055-021-00450-z