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AJNR - American Journal of Neuroradiology

Published ahead of print on August 21, 2008
doi: 10.3174/ajnr.A1272

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Diffusion Tensor MR Imaging in Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

B.M. Ellingson^a, J.L. Ulmer^b, S.N. Kurpad^c and B.D. Schmit^a

^a Department of Biomedical Engineering, Marquette University, Milwaukee, Wis
^b Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis
^c Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wis

View larger version (26K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig 1. FLASH localizer and FA color images of select regions of the spinal cord in representative subjects. A, Control subject showing consistently high FA throughout the spinal cord. B, Representative subject with incomplete injury (S2) showing slightly lower FA compared with control subjects. Note that the level of the lesion had a particularly low FA value (arrowhead). C, Representative subject with complete injury (S4) showing significantly lower FA compared with that of the control subject in A. Note significant atrophy of the spinal cord caudal to the injury site.

View larger version (25K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig 2. Whole cord diffusion characteristics for healthy subjects (mean for all healthy subjects ± SEM across healthy subjects, illustrated with boxes) and a representative subject with chronic SCI (S6, incomplete [circles]). Longitudinal diffusivity (l) (A), transverse diffusivity (t) (B), mean diffusivity (MD) (C), and FA (D) are shown. Arrowheads represent the location of ASIA neurologic impairment for the subject with chronic SCI.

View larger version (33K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig 3. Mean diffusion measurements across lesions for all subjects with chronic SCI. A–C, Longitudinal diffusivity (l) (A), transverse diffusivity (t) (B), and mean diffusivity (MD) (C) are shown as a function of distance (in millimeters) from the location of ASIA neurologic impairment. D, FA across the lesion is shown as a function of vertebral level. The black line represents clinically complete SCI, and gray lines represent clinically incomplete SCI. Dashed lines represent mean control data. Data shown represent mean values ± SEM across SCI subjects (complete, n = 4; incomplete, n = 5).