title: Diffusion tensor imaging to guide surgical planning in intramedullary spinal cord tumors in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intramedullary spinal cord neoplasms (ISCN) in children provide diagnostic, treatment and management dilemmas. Resection results in the best chance for disease control, but the greatest risk of neurologic deficit. We hypothesize that diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion tensor-fiber tracking (DT-FT) can help characterize margins of pediatric ISCN to aid in surgical planning.
  
  
  METHODS
  This HIPAA compliant retrospective study was performed after Institutional Review Board approval. Patients with ISCN from a single tertiary care pediatric institution were identified, and patients with preoperative DTI were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ten patients (eight males and two females) with ISCN with preoperative DTI were identified. The mean age was 11.1 ± 6.2 years (range, 2-18 years). Eight tumors demonstrated DTI and DT-FT evidence of splayed cord tracts, and two demonstrated evidence of infiltration of cord tracts. The eight patients with splayed tracts underwent resection, with seven achieving gross-total resection and one subtotal resection. The two patients with infiltration of white matter tracts underwent biopsy of their lesion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DTI of pediatric ISCN can aid in defining the margins of the tumor and relationship to the intrinsic white matter structures of the spinal cord. Splaying and displacement of fiber tracts appears to predict a discrete margin to the tumor and resectability, whereas infiltration of the white matter tracts suggests biopsy may be more advisable.
authors.affiliation: Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Department of Radiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, 848 Adams Ave-G216, Memphis, TN, 38103, USA, achoudhri@uthsc.edu.
authors.forename: Asim F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Choudhri
authors.forename: Matthew T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Klimo
authors.forename: Blake K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.forename: Frederick A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Boop
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology*; D011300:Preoperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013120:Spinal Cord Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D016896:Treatment Outcome