摘要
Infarction is a rare cause of spinal cord dysfunction. Whereas diffusion weighted (DW) MRI has been established as a highly sensitive technique for assessing acute cerebral ischemia, its role in spinal cord infarction remains to be determined. The purpose of this study is to present the signal characteristics of acute spinal cord ischemia using DW MRI within the first two days and after one week. MRI including DW imaging (DWI) was performed in three patients with acute spinal cord dysfunction 8, 12 and 30 hours after the onset of symptoms and repeated after one week in two patients. Two initial scans included EPI DWsequences in transverse and sagittal orientation. The remaining examinations were performed with an optimised high spatial resolution DWI sequence in the transverse plane. The diagnosis of spinal cord ischemia was established by imaging, clinical history and CSF analysis. T2 signal abnormality and restricted diffusion was demonstrated in all initial examinations. Transverse DW sequences had the highest sensitivity. The spinal infarctions were mainly located in the centre of the spinal cord and the grey matter. Contrast enhancement was absent. After one week, the restricted diffusion had normalised (pseudo normalisation) whereas the T2 signal changes had become more prominent. Restricted diffusion in the course of spinal cord ischemic infarction can be demonstrated using DW MRI. Whereas a diffusion abnormality can be found after few hours, it does not last for longer than one week. At this time, the establishment of the diagnosis has to rely mainly on T2 weighted images with additional post contrast T1 weighted images being useful.
Infarction is a rare cause of spinal cord dysfunction. Whereas diffusion weighted (DW) MRI has been established as a highly sensitive technique for assessing acute cerebral ischemia, its role in spinal cord infarction remains to be determined. The purpose of this study is to present the signal characteristics of acute spinal cord ischemia using DW MRI within the first two days and after one week. MRI including DW imaging (DWI) was performed in three patients with acute spinal cord dysfunction 8, 12 and 30 hours after the onset of symptoms and repeated after one week in two patients. Two initial scans included EPI DWsequences in transverse and sagittal orientation. The remaining examinations were performed with an optimised high spatial resolution DWI sequence in the transverse plane. The diagnosis of spinal cord ischemia was established by imaging, clinical history and CSF analysis. T2 signal abnormality and restricted diffusion was demonstrated in all initial examinations. Transverse DW sequences had the highest sensitivity. The spinal infarctions were mainly located in the centre of the spinal cord and the grey matter. Contrast enhancement was absent. After one week, the restricted diffusion had normalised (pseudo normalisation) whereas the T2 signal changes had become more prominent. Restricted diffusion in the course of spinal cord ischemic infarction can be demonstrated using DW MRI. Whereas a diffusion abnormality can be found after few hours, it does not last for longer than one week. At this time, the establishment of the diagnosis has to rely mainly on T2 weighted images with additional post contrast T1 weighted images being useful.
出处
《世界核心医学期刊文摘（神经病学分册）》
2005年第1期9-10,共2页
Digest of the World Core Medical Journals:Clinical Neurology
