title: Reduced FOV diffusion tensor MR imaging and fiber tractography of pediatric cervical spinal cord injury.
abstract: METHODS
  Quantitative study.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the effectiveness of pediatric spinal cord diffusion tensor tractography (DTT) generated from reduced field of view diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data and investigate whether there are differences in these values between typically developing (TD) subjects and patients with spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  Temple University Hospital and Shriners Hospitals for Children-Philadelphia, USA.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 20 pediatric subjects including 10 healthy subjects (age 15.13±3.51 years (mean±s.d.) and age range 11-21 years) and 10 subjects with SCI in the cervical area (age 13.8±3.26 years and age range 8-20 years) were recruited, and scanned using a 3.0T MR scanner. Quantitative parameters of DTI and fiber tracking, such as mean fractional anisotropy (FA), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), mean length of fiber tracts and tract density, were calculated for each subject.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Subjects with SCI showed reduced FA and tract density, and increased ADC values and length of fiber tracts, compared with controls. Statistically significant differences were seen in FA (P=0.0238) and tract density (P=0.0005) between controls and subjects with SCI, whereas there were no significant differences in ADC values and length of fiber tracts. The tractography visually showed that the white matter tracts (blue color) of the SCI patients were overall less abundant and less organized compared with control cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show that DTI and DTT could be used as surrogate markers for quantification and visualization of the injured spinal cord.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Radiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alizadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Radiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Intintolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Radiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Middleton
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Electrical Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Conklin
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Radiology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Electrical Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Faro
authors.affiliation: Department of Occupational Therapy, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia,PA, USA.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Mulcahey
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.|Department of Electrical Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: F B
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Mohamed
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D066193:Cervical Cord / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000293:injuries*; D002648:Child; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult