Diffusion-weighted MRI of the spinal cord in cervical spondylotic myelopathy after instrumented fusion

Frontiers in Neurology

Neurology

Shekar Kurpad¹  Aditya Vedantam¹  Matthew Budde¹  Marjorie Wang¹  Andrew S. Nencka²  Andrew Klein²  Kevin M. Koch² 

[1] Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States;Department of Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States;

关键词: cervical spondylotic myelopathy;    magnetic resonance imaging;    diffusion;    metal artifact;    spinal fusion;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fneur.2023.1172833

 received in 2023-02-23, accepted in 2023-05-02,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionThis study investigated tissue diffusion properties within the spinal cord of individuals treated for cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) using post-decompression stabilization hardware. While previous research has indicated the potential of diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) markers of CSM, the metallic implants often used to stabilize the decompressed spine hamper conventional DW-MRI.MethodsUtilizing recent developments in DW-MRI metal-artifact suppression technologies, imaging data was acquired from 38 CSM study participants who had undergone instrumented fusion, as well as asymptomatic (non-instrumented) control participants. Apparent diffusion coefficients were determined in axial slice sections and split into four categories: a) instrumented levels, b) non-instrumented CSM levels, c) adjacent-segment (to instrumentation) CSM levels, and d) non-instrumented control levels. Multi-linear regression models accounting for age, sex, and body mass index were used to investigate ADC measures within each category. Furthermore, the cord diffusivity within CSM subjects was correlated with symptom scores and the duration since fusion procedures.ResultsADC measures of the spinal cord in CSM subjects were globally reduced relative to control subjects (p = 0.005). In addition, instrumented levels within the CSM subjects showed reduced diffusivity relative to controls (p = 0.003), while ADC within non-instrumented CSM levels did not statistically deviate from control levels (p = 0.107).DiscussionMulti-spectral DW-MRI technology can be effectively employed to evaluate cord diffusivity near fusion hardware in subjects who have undergone surgery for CSM. Leveraging this advanced technology, this study had identified significant reductions in cord diffusivity, relative to control subjects, in CSM patients treated with conventional metallic fusion instrumentation.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
Copyright © 2023 Koch, Nencka, Klein, Wang, Kurpad, Vedantam and Budde.