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Review
. 2019 Mar;57(2):319-339.
doi: 10.1016/j.rcl.2018.09.004. Epub 2018 Nov 17.

MR Imaging for Assessing Injury Severity and Prognosis in Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Jason F Talbott  1 , John Russell Huie  2 , Adam R Ferguson  2 , Jacqueline C Bresnahan  3 , Michael S Beattie  3 , Sanjay S Dhall  4
Affiliations
Review

MR Imaging for Assessing Injury Severity and Prognosis in Acute Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Jason F Talbott et al. Radiol Clin North Am. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

T2-weighted (T2W) imaging is the most important sequence for detection of acute traumatic spinal cord pathology in clinical practice. Intramedullary hemorrhage on T2W imaging is associated with some component of irreversible injury and arguably the most robust MR imaging predictor of injury severity. The MR imaging appearance of the injured spinal cord in the early stages of injury is highly dynamic, and the time delay from injury to imaging must be considered in image interpretation. Diffusion imaging offers promise as specific tool for interrogating spinal cord integrity, although well-designed, prospective clinical studies validating its application remain limited.

Keywords: Central cord injury; Contusion; Diffusion; Hemorrhage; MRI; SCIWORA; Spinal cord; Tensor.

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