Abstract: Objective To apply MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to quantitatively analyze cervical spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality (CSCIWORA). Methods 15 patients with CSCIWORA and 20 healthy controls were scanned with MRI of conventional scans and DTI. The fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were measured. Results FA and ADC of the patients were (0.475±0.109) and (1.438±0.252)×10-3 mm2/s, respectively. Whereas, they were (0.604±0.096) and (1.371±0.280)×10-3 mm2/s in the controls. Compared with the controls, the FA was less (P<0.05) in the patients, but the ADC was not significantly different (P=0.267). The fiber tracking (FT) showed the abnormality of white matter fiber tracts of cervical spinal cord in the patients. Conclusion DTI can detect the CSCIWORA, and FT can directly display the injuries of white matter fiber tracts of cervical spinal cord, which provide more information to evaluate the clinical severity of CSCIWORA.

Key words: cervical spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality, diffusion tension imaging, fractional anisotropy, apparent diffusion coefficient, fiber tracking