title: Magnetic resonance imaging study of experimental acute spinal cord injury.
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used widely in the diagnosis of acute spinal cord injuries. The association between MRI findings and histologic changes, however, remains unclear. Using a rabbit spinal cord injury model, the authors compared the MRI and histologic abnormalities as they evolved over the first post-trauma month. Bleeding in the gray matter, visualized as a low-intensity area on T1-weighted views and high-intensity area on T2-weighted views, observed immediately after injury, disappeared within the first week. Edema, appearing 6 hours after the initial injury and seen as a high-intensity T2-weighted MRI image, became maximal 1 week later and gradually decreased thereafter. Also appearing 1 week later, were necrotic changes in the gray matter, corresponding to low signals on T1-weighted studies but high signals on T2-weighted studies. MRI therefore helped differentiate hemorrhage and necrosis, presumably irreversible lesions, from the more reversible findings related to edema.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yone
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sakou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003287:Contrast Media; D004487:Edema / Q000473:pathology; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009336:Necrosis / Q000473:pathology; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010264:Paraplegia / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D004369:Pentetic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D011817:Rabbits; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D013117:Spinal Cord Compression / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA