title: Timing of diffusion tensor imaging in the acute spinal cord injury of rats.
abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in acute spinal cord following a thoracic spinal cord injury (SCI), and to determine the optimal time of examination. Sprague-Dawley rats were used as experimental animals and contusion injuries were made at the T10 vertebral level. The rats were divided into control, mild injury, moderate injury, and severe injury groups. Spinal magnetic resonance DTI was scheduled at 6, 24 and 72 hours (h) post-SCI, and the DTI parameters such as fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were calculated, and the diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) of the spinal cord was also generated. We observed a significant decrease of FA in all the three injured groups, and the FA at 24 h post-SCI exhibited the greatest decrease among different set times. For ADC, only the group of severely injured rats saw a significant decrease at 24 and 72 h compared with the control group. DTT showed interruption of nerve fiber tracking in the injured groups. This study demonstrates that FA can differentiate various grades of SCI in the early stage, and 24 h after injury might be the optimal time for identifying injury severity.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China.
authors.forename: Xiao-Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, Luochuan County Hospital, Luochuan County 727400, China.
authors.forename: Jian-Bin
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China.
authors.forename: Xi-Jing
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China.
authors.forename: Sheng-Li
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiology, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710004, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Lan
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Bai
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D016880:Anisotropy; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors; D015599:Trauma Severity Indices