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Line scan diffusion tensor MRI at low magnetic field strength: Feasibility study of cervical spondylotic myelopathy in an early clinical stage
Author(s) -
Hori Masaaki,
Okubo Toshiyuki,
Aoki Shigeki,
Kumagai Hiroshi,
Araki Tsutomu
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.20488
Subject(s) - medicine , diffusion mri , fractional anisotropy , effective diffusion coefficient , spinal cord , nuclear medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , cervical spondylosis , stage (stratigraphy) , myelopathy , radiology , pathology , paleontology , alternative medicine , psychiatry , biology
Purpose To implement line scan diffusion tensor MR imaging (LSDTI) on a 0.2 Tesla MR imager, and investigate the findings in the spinal cord of patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy in an early clinical stage. Materials and Methods Fourteen patients with clinical symptoms of cervical myelopathy underwent LSDTI. The signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) in the spinal cord and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was evaluated. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) were measured. We classified the ROIs into two groups: 1) unaffected (no clinical symptoms and no abnormality on conventional images) and 2) affected (some clinical symptoms but no abnormal signal on conventional images). Three‐dimensional (3D) fiber‐tracking was also studied. Results The isotropic ADC values (10 –3 mm 2 /sec) were 1.28 ± 0.11 in group 1 and 1.59 ± 0.23 in group 2. The FAs were 0.55 ± 0.07 in group 1, and 0.47 ± 0.11 in group 2. The ADC value in group 2 increased ( P < .001, Mann‐Whitney U‐test) and the FA in group 2 decreased ( P = 0.24) on average, compared to those in group 1. 3D fiber‐tracking was successful in 64% (9/14) of the cases. Conclusion LSDT images at low field strength may be a sensitive method for elucidating the structural characteristics of spinal cord pathology in vivo. However, clinical correlation and a long‐term follow‐up study will be needed. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.