Service de Radiologie et d'Imagerie Musculosquelettique, Lille, France.
Eur Radiol. 2011 Feb;21(2):426-33. doi: 10.1007/s00330-010-1927-z. Epub 2010 Aug 20.
To (1) obtain microstructural parameters (Fractional Anisotropy: FA, Mean Diffusivity: MD) of the cervical spinal cord in patients suffering from cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) using tractography, (2) to compare DTI parameters with the clinical assessment of these patients (3) and with information issued from conventional sequences.
DTI was performed on 20 symptomatic patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy, matched with 15 volunteers. FA and MD were calculated from tractography images at the C2-C3 level and compressed level in patients and at the C2-C3 and C4-C7 in controls. Patients were clinically evaluated using a self-administered questionnaire.
The FA values of patients were significantly lower at the compressed level than the FA of volunteers at the C4-C7 level. A significant positive correlation between FA at the compressed level and clinical assessment was demonstrated. Increased signal intensity on T2-weighted images did not correlate either with FA or MD values, or with any of the clinical scores.
FA values were significantly correlated with some of the patients' clinical scores. High signal intensity of the spinal cord on T2 was not correlated either with the DTI parameters or with the clinical assessment, suggesting that FA is more sensitive than T2 imaging.
（1）使用示踪技术获取患有颈椎病性脊髓病（CSM）的患者颈脊髓的微观结构参数（各向异性分数：FA、平均扩散系数：MD），（2）将 DTI 参数与这些患者的临床评估进行比较，（3）并与常规序列提供的信息进行比较。
对 20 例有症状的颈椎病性脊髓病患者进行 DTI 检查，与 15 名志愿者相匹配。在患者的 C2-C3 水平和受压水平以及对照组的 C2-C3 和 C4-C7 水平上，从示踪图像计算 FA 和 MD。患者使用自我管理问卷进行临床评估。
患者受压水平的 FA 值明显低于志愿者 C4-C7 水平的 FA 值。在受压水平上的 FA 值与临床评估之间存在显著正相关。T2 加权图像上的高信号强度与 FA 或 MD 值或任何临床评分均无相关性。
FA 值与患者的某些临床评分显著相关。T2 上脊髓的高信号强度与 DTI 参数或临床评估均无相关性，提示 FA 比 T2 成像更敏感。
