title: Is diffusion tensor imaging useful in the assessment of the sciatic nerve and its pathologies? Our clinical experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the usefulness of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in the clinical setting as a complementary tool to conventional MRI in the study and assessment of the sciatic nerve and its pathologies.
  
  
  METHODS
  17 patients diagnosed with different types of sciatic neuropathy and 10 healthy controls underwent a conventional MRI and a DTI study in a 3-T MR scanner (Achieva(®) 3-T X-Series; Philips Healthcare, Netherlands).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the control group, we were able to track and visualize the common sciatic nerve and its main branches from hip to foot. In the patient group, the affected sciatic nerves presented statistically significant lower fractional anisotropy values and higher apparent diffusion coefficient values when compared with controls, suggesting nerve damage. In all cases, DTI offered complementary information for diagnosis and/or confirmation of the suspected pathology. When compared with conventional MRI, DTI showed higher sensitivity for nerve damage detection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DTI offers a significant improvement and an important complement to visualize the sciatic nerve and its main branches. In patients with sciatic nerve pathology DTI allows to a better detection and characterization of the nerve damage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DTI enables in vivo dissection of the sciatic nerve white matter fibres; its use offers a significant improvement and complement to conventional MRI.
authors.affiliation: 1 Magnetic Resonance Department, Inscanner SL, Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Ángela
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Bernabeu
authors.affiliation: 1 Magnetic Resonance Department, Inscanner SL, Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: López-Celada
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Neurology, Hospital Vega Baja de Orihuela, Alicante, Spain.|3 CIBER-BBN, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Arantxa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alfaro
authors.affiliation: 4 Orthopaedic Surgery Department, Clinica Vistahermosa, Alicante, Spain.
authors.forename: Jesús J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Mas
authors.affiliation: 5 Clinical Science Department, Philips Healthcare Iberia, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sánchez-González
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016880:Anisotropy; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D020426:Sciatic Neuropathy / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity