title: MRI diffusion coefficients in spinal cord correlate with axon morphometry.
abstract: Following spinal cord injury, diffusion MRI (DWI) has been shown to detect injury and functionally significant neuroprotection following treatment that otherwise would go undetected with conventional MRI. The underlying histologic correlates to directional apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) obtained with DWI have not been determined, however, and we address this issue by directly correlating ADC values with corresponding axon morphometry in the normal rat cervical spinal cord. ADC values transverse (perpendicular) and longitudinal (parallel) to axons both correlate with axon counts, however each directional ADC reflects distinct histologic parameters. DWI may therefore be capable of providing specific histologic data regarding the integrity of white matter.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 1 Silverstein, 3400 Spruce St, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. eric.schwartz@uphs.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Emily T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.forename: Yingli
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Abbas F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Jawad
authors.forename: Chih-Liang
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nissanov
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Hackney
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D005260:Female; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology / Q000473:pathology; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000473:pathology*