Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for acute trauma of the spine cord / 中南大学学报(医学版)

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To determine the clinical value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) for acute trauma of the spinal cord.@*METHODS@#Sixteen patients with acute trauma of the spinal cord were examined with routine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ssh-EPI-DWI, on a 1.5-tesla MR system within 72 h trauma.@*RESULTS@#All the 16 patients were examined by MRI and ssh-EPI-DWI: 6 patients were negative and 10 were positive in MRI, which showed local lesions with significant abnormality. Positive cases were classified into 2 categories depending on different degrees of tissue injury and characteristics of DWI. (1) Edema-type: 7 presented DWI high signals with different degrees in local lesions. (2) Mixed-type: 3 showed DWI heterogeneous high signals due to hemorrhage and edema in the lesions. There was significant difference in ADC values between the lesions and normal parts (t=-7.719, P<0. 01).@*CONCLUSION@#ssh-EPI-DWI of the spinal cord may provide satisfactory images and is a useful method for visualizing the injury in the superearly stage, helpful to determine the integrity and compression degree of the spinal cord.