Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for acute trauma of the spine cord

Abstract

To determine the clinical value of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DWI) for acute trauma of the spinal cord. 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. 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). 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.