Fulong Dong, Yuanyuan Wu, Peiwen Song, Yinfeng Qian, Ying Wang, Liyan Xu, Minmin Yin, Renjie Zhang, Hui Tao, Peng Ge, Chang Liu, Huaqing Zhang, Jinwen Zhu, Cailiang Shen, Yongqiang Yu


August 2018, Volume 27, Issue 8, pp 1839 - 1845 Original Article Read Full Article 10.1007/s00586-018-5579-z

First Online: 04 April 2018

Purpose

To compare diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) parameters of the spinal cord between patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and normal subjects, and investigate their significance in the clinical diagnosis, surgical planning and post-operative evaluation of CSM.

Methods

Routine sequence magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and DTI scans were performed in 50 normal subjects and 60 cases of CSM with 3.0-T MR. DTI images, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) colormaps corresponding to spinal cord cross-sections were obtained. The spinal cord function of CSM patients was measured using modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) scoring and Nurick grade at different times. The changes in DTI parameters and their correlation with spinal cord function scores were analysed by SPSS 19.

Results

There were significant differences in DTI parameters of the spinal cord between normal subjects and patients with CSM (ADC: 1.119 ± 0.087 vs. 1.395 ± 0.091, P 

Conclusions

DTI may play a significant role in diagnosing and predicting the development of CSM.

Graphical abstract

These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.[Figure not available: see fulltext.]


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