Abstract
Purpose
Obtaining fast, reliable, high-resolution diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the pediatric cervical spinal cord (CSC) is challenging, given the multitude of technical limitations involved. Overcoming these limitations may further potentiate DTI as a valuable quantitative tool in evaluating the pediatric CSC.
Methods
Sixteen patients (9 girls and 7 boys) with hypoxic brain injury, craniocervical junction malformations, and head trauma were included in this retrospective study. Region of interests were placed from C1–C2 through C7–T1 consecutively at the cervical intervertebral disc levels. DTI metrics were compared with a pediatric DTI database of healthy controls. Clinical background and outcomes were tabulated.
Results
Patients with hypoxic brain injury, Chiari I and II malformations, and head trauma demonstrated lower fractional anisotropy values than that of healthy controls at certain cervical intervertebral disc levels.
Conclusions
DTI may be a promising modality for providing additional information beyond that of conventional magnetic resonance imaging in pediatric central nervous system disorders.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Scott Pryde (Section of Pediatric Neuroradiology, Division of Pediatric Radiology, The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) for his technical support in this study.
Grant sponsor
Ximin Li and Carol Thompson’s work was supported by the National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) of the National Institutes of Health through Grant Number UL1T000424.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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Orman, G., Wang, K.Y., Li, X. et al. Diffusion tensor imaging of the cervical spinal cord in children. Childs Nerv Syst 31, 1239–1245 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-015-2767-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-015-2767-6