Department of Neurosurgery, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK, USA.
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Stanford School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
Spine J. 2024 Nov;24(11):2045-2057. doi: 10.1016/j.spinee.2024.07.002. Epub 2024 Jul 20.
BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is characterized by spinal cord atrophy. Accurate estimation of spinal cord atrophy is key to the understanding of neurological diseases, including DCM. However, its clinical application is hampered by difficulties in its precise and consistent estimation due to significant variability in spinal cord morphometry along the cervical spine, both within and between individuals. PURPOSE: To characterize morphometrics of the compressed spinal cord in DCM patients. We employed our semiautomated analysis framework that incorporates the Spinal Cord Toolbox (SCT) and a normalization approach to effectively address the challenges posed by cord compression in these patients. Additionally, we examined the clinical relevance of these morphometric measures to enhance our understanding of DCM pathophysiology. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study. PATIENT SAMPLE: This study investigated 36 DCM patients and 31 healthy controls (HCs). OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical scores including 9-hole peg test for hand dexterity, hand grip strength, balance, gait speed, modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score, and imaging-based spinal cord morphometrics. METHOD: Using the generic spine acquisition protocol and our semiautomated analysis pipeline, spinal cord morphometrics, including cross-sectional area (CSA), anterior-posterior (AP) and transverse (RL) diameters, eccentricity, and solidity, were estimated from sagittal T2w magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images using the Spinal Cord Toolbox (SCT). Normalized metrics were extracted from the C1 to C7 vertebral levels and compared between DCM patients and HC. Morphometric data at regions of maximum spinal cord compression (MSCC) were correlated with the clinical scores. A subset of participants underwent follow-up scans at 6 months to monitor longitudinal changes in spinal cord atrophy. RESULTS: Spinal cord morphometric data were normalized against the healthy population morphometry (PAM50 database) and extracted for all participants. DCM patients showed a notable reduction in CSA, AP, and RL diameter across all vertebral levels compared to HC. MSCC metrics correlated significantly with clinical scores like dexterity, grip strength, and mJOA scores. Longitudinal analysis indicated a decrease in CSA and worsening clinical scores in DCM patients. CONCLUSION: Our processing pipeline offers a reliable method for assessing spinal cord compression in DCM patients. Normalized spinal cord morphometrics, particularly the CSA could have potential for monitoring DCM disease severity and progression, guiding treatment decisions. Furthermore, to our knowledge our study is the first to apply the generic spinal cord acquisition protocol, ensuring consistent imaging across different MRI scanners and settings. Coupled with our semiautomated analysis pipeline, this protocol is key for the detailed morphometric characterization of compressed spinal cords in patients with DCM, a disease that is both complex and heterogenous. This study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) (K23:NS091430) and (R01: NS129852-01A1).
背景:退行性颈脊髓病(DCM)的特征是脊髓萎缩。准确估计脊髓萎缩对于理解包括 DCM 在内的神经疾病至关重要。然而,由于颈脊髓形态在个体内和个体间存在显著差异,其精确和一致的估计存在困难,因此其临床应用受到限制。
目的:描述 DCM 患者受压脊髓的形态学特征。我们采用了半自动分析框架,该框架结合了脊髓工具箱(SCT)和归一化方法,有效地解决了这些患者脊髓受压带来的挑战。此外,我们还研究了这些形态学测量的临床相关性,以增强我们对 DCM 病理生理学的理解。
研究设计:前瞻性研究。
患者样本:本研究纳入了 36 例 DCM 患者和 31 例健康对照者(HCs)。
观察指标:临床评分,包括 9 孔钉测试手灵巧度、手握力、平衡、步态速度、改良日本矫形协会(mJOA)评分和基于影像学的脊髓形态学。
方法:使用通用脊柱采集方案和我们的半自动分析流水线,使用脊髓工具箱(SCT)从矢状面 T2w 磁共振成像(MRI)图像中估计脊髓形态学,包括横截面积(CSA)、前后(AP)和横向(RL)直径、偏心度和密实度。从 C1 到 C7 椎体水平提取归一化指标,并比较 DCM 患者和 HC 之间的差异。在最大脊髓压迫(MSCC)区域测量的形态学数据与临床评分相关。一部分参与者在 6 个月时接受了随访扫描,以监测脊髓萎缩的纵向变化。
结果:脊髓形态学数据相对于健康人群形态学(PAM50 数据库)进行了归一化,并对所有参与者进行了提取。与 HC 相比,DCM 患者的 CSA、AP 和 RL 直径在所有椎体水平均显著降低。MSCC 指标与灵巧度、握力和 mJOA 评分等临床评分显著相关。纵向分析表明,DCM 患者的 CSA 减小,临床评分恶化。
结论:我们的处理流水线为评估 DCM 患者脊髓受压提供了一种可靠的方法。归一化脊髓形态学,特别是 CSA,可能具有监测 DCM 疾病严重程度和进展的潜力,有助于指导治疗决策。此外,据我们所知,本研究首次应用通用脊髓采集方案,确保了不同 MRI 扫描仪和设置之间的一致成像。结合我们的半自动分析流水线,该方案是对 DCM 患者受压脊髓进行详细形态学特征描述的关键,因为 DCM 是一种复杂且异质的疾病。本研究由美国国立神经病学与卒中研究所(NINDS)(K23:NS091430)和(R01: NS129852-01A1)资助。
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