Preliminary Study And Clinical Application Of Diffusion Tensor MRI On The Cervical Spinal Cord

Part ITITLE: Preliminary study of diffusion tensor MRI on the cervical spinal cord in normal adults.PURPOSE: To investigate a simplified and practical strategy and draw the normal standard for diffusion tensor MRI of the cervical spinal cord in healthy adults, and to offer the basis for dignosis of the cervical spinal cord disorders.MATERIALS AND METHODS: 36 consecutive healthy subjects accepted DTI examinations of the cervical spinal cord on a 1. 5T GE MR scanner. The scanning protocol included scouting of standard view using SPGR sequence, FRFSE T2WI sequences on standard sagittal and axial views ,T1FLAIR sequence on sagittal view,and SE-EPI sequence on sagittal view for DTI. After calculation of ADC and FA maps corresponding to diffusion sensitization, ADC and FA, 1, 2, 3 values were estimated in regions of interest positioned in normal control cord .RESULTS: All 36 subjects completed the examinations. The cervical spinal cords were clearly demonstrated , and there were no obvious artifacts in the diffusion tensor images. ADC and FA demonstrated low anisotropy of the spinal cord with an average value of (914. 44 82.61) 10-6mm2/s, (593.84 52.22) 10-3, comparable to white matter tracts in the brain. The diffusivity components parallel andorthogonal to the longitudinal axes of the cord were 1= (1585.1 130. 07) 10-~6mm 2/s , A 2=(559. 84 66. 49) 10-6mm 2/s, 3=(613. 28 128. 71) 10-6mm 2/s, respectively. The 2 1 / ( 2+ 3) value was 2. 74 0.32.CONCLUSIONS: The diffusion tensor imaging using SE-EPI sequence of the cervical spinal cord was well demonstrated in vivo for healthy adults. The water diffusivity in the direction parallel to the longitudinal axes of the spinal cord was found to be higher than the diffusivity in directions perpendicular to the longitudinal axes of the spinal cord, and thus showed cylindrical and symmetric anisotropy characteristics.