Aims and objectives
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a non-invasive magnetic resonance technique recognized as functional imaging,
based on the measurement of the movement of water molecules in the extracellular and intravascular space.
In most tissues this movement is free and takes place in all directions,
while in some tissues with natural biological barriers this movement is limited and takes place along the barriers.
In nerve tissue,
these natural barriers are myelin sheaths and cell membranes,
which limit the free movement of water molecules and force them along...
Methods and materials
Between 2013 - 2017,
39 healthy volunteers (27 females and 12 males,
ages from 25 to 71 years,
average 42,4±10,9) without clinical or radiological symptoms of cervical myelopathy were examined.
The Ethics Committee of Medical University of Gdansk approved the study.
Informed consent was obtained for all participating subjects.
The patients with degenerative disease,
congenital abnormalities and post traumatic changes in cervical spine were excluded from the study.
The anterior-posterior diameter of the spinal canal and the DTI values were measured in transverse T2-weighted images,...
Results
The age of male and female patients did not differ significantly (F: 42,8 years,
M: 41,3 years,
p=0,69).
The mean AP diameter,
FA and ADC values of the whole cord at the different cervical levels are shown in Fig.3,
Fig.4,
Fig.5 and Fig.6
The FA value in healthy people decreased in the cranial to caudal direction but did not differ significantly at different levels of the spine.
Mean ADC values in healthy people decreased with lower spine level with statistic difference between C2/C3 vs C5/C6,...
Conclusion
In conclusion,
we presented the values of DTI metrics of the cervical spinal cord in a population of 39 healthy adults.
The measurement techniques are easy to use and efficiency reproducible results allowing their application as a reference in other cervical spinal cord diseases.
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