A comparative study of diffusion tensor imaging parameters and pathologic changes in rabbit with acute spinal cord injury / 实用医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To make spinal cor injury model of rabbit in order to investigate the feasibility and accuracy of diffusion tensor imaging in diagnosis of early ASCI. Methods In 30 Chinese rabbits ,24 rabbits were randomly selected as the experimental group and the other 6 as the control group. Allen′s technique were used to make moderateacute spinal cord injury in the experimental group. In the control group ,the operation only exposed the spinal membrane ,wihthout damage on the spinal cord. All rabbits were performed in routine MRI , DTI ,diffusion tensor tractography and post-processing. After the MRI scan ,the rabbit spinal cord was removed to have pathological examination at 1 ,3 ,5 ,7 days. Results The number of inflammatory cells and spinal motor neurons were closely correlated with FA values and ADC values. DTT images showed the spinal cord defects, curling and breaking. Conclusion The parameters of DTI (FA ,ADC) can reflect the pathological changes of acute spinal cord injury in early stage ,and therefore may be used as an routine evaluation method for clinical acute spinal cord injury.