| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2020 | Volume
: 7
| Issue : 1 | Page : 44-50 |
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Role of diffusion tensor imaging scores in patients with spinal trauma
Ankur Malhotra, Mohini Chaudhary, Arjit Agarwal, Shruti Chandak, Deepak Singla
Department of Radiodiagnosis, Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Centre, Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Correspondence Address:
Dr. Shruti Chandak
Department of Radiodiagnosis, Teerthanker Mahaveer Medical College and Research Centre, Moradabad - 244 001, Uttar Pradesh
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/ami.ami_22_20
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Background: Many patients of spinal trauma who have an apparently normal conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan ultimately progress to neurological degradation in the long run. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can play a vital role in such patients and can be used to assess the true extent of injury. Aims: The aims are to study the utility of DTI in detecting abnormalities in patients with spinal cord trauma and to obtain DTI scores. Materials and Methods: The study comprised 30 individuals including 20 cases and 10 apparently healthy controls who underwent conventional MRI, followed by DTI of involved spine. Fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were obtained by planning three regions of interest in the spinal cord at, above, and below the level of trauma. Results: Signal changes in the cord on conventional MRI were seen in 8 cases and were absent in 12. A significant difference was observed in mean FA values at the level of injury in cases without any change in signal intensity in the cord on conventional MRI (0.391 ± 0.12) as compared to controls (0.65 ± 0.165) as well as in mean ADC values in cases (1.534 ± 0.511) and controls (1.132 ± 0.616). Conclusions: DTI is an invaluable modality in assessment of the spinal cord following traumatic injury because it can detect subtle disruption of white matter leading to significant difference in the FA and ADC values.
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