Wang Wei, Qin Wen, Hao Nanxin, Wang Yibin, Zong Genlin
Department of Radiology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.
Acta Radiol. 2012 Oct 1;53(8):921-8. doi: 10.1258/ar.2012.120271. Epub 2012 Aug 14.
Although diffusion tensor imaging has been successfully applied in brain research for decades, several main difficulties have hindered its extended utilization in spinal cord imaging.
To assess the feasibility and clinical value of diffusion tensor imaging and tractography for evaluating chronic spinal cord compression.
Single-shot spin-echo echo-planar DT sequences were scanned in 42 spinal cord compression patients and 49 healthy volunteers. The mean values of the apparent diffusion coefficient and fractional anisotropy were measured in region of interest at the cervical and lower thoracic spinal cord. The patients were divided into two groups according to the high signal on T2WI (the SCC-HI group and the SCC-nHI group for with or without high signal). A one-way ANOVA was used. Diffusion tensor tractography was used to visualize the morphological features of normal and impaired white matter.
There were no statistically significant differences in the apparent diffusion coefficient and fractional anisotropy values between the different spinal cord segments of the normal subjects. All of the patients in the SCC-HI group had increased apparent diffusion coefficient values and decreased fractional anisotropy values at the lesion level compared to the normal controls. However, there were no statistically significant diffusion index differences between the SCC-nHI group and the normal controls. In the diffusion tensor imaging maps, the normal spinal cord sections were depicted as fiber tracts that were color-encoded to a cephalocaudal orientation. The diffusion tensor images were compressed to different degrees in all of the patients.
Diffusion tensor imaging and tractography are promising methods for visualizing spinal cord tracts and can provide additional information in clinical studies in spinal cord compresion.
尽管扩散张量成像已在脑研究中成功应用数十年，但仍有几个主要困难阻碍了其在脊髓成像中的广泛应用。
评估扩散张量成像及纤维束成像在评估慢性脊髓压迫方面的可行性和临床价值。
对42例脊髓压迫患者和49名健康志愿者进行单次激发自旋回波平面扩散张量序列扫描。在颈段和胸下段脊髓的感兴趣区测量表观扩散系数和各向异性分数的平均值。根据T2WI上的高信号将患者分为两组（T2WI高信号组和T2WI无高信号组）。采用单因素方差分析。利用扩散张量纤维束成像显示正常和受损白质的形态特征。
正常受试者不同脊髓节段的表观扩散系数和各向异性分数值无统计学显著差异。与正常对照组相比，T2WI高信号组所有患者病变水平的表观扩散系数值升高，各向异性分数值降低。然而，T2WI无高信号组与正常对照组之间的扩散指数无统计学显著差异。在扩散张量成像图中，正常脊髓节段显示为沿头尾方向进行颜色编码的纤维束。所有患者的扩散张量图像均有不同程度的压缩。
扩散张量成像及纤维束成像在显示脊髓纤维束方面是有前景的方法，可为脊髓压迫的临床研究提供额外信息。
