We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
Normal variation of diffusion tensor parameters of the spinal cord in healthy subjects at 3.0-Tesla.
- Authors
T., Uda; T., Takami; S., Sakamoto; N., Tsuyuguchi; T., Yamagata; K., Ohata
- Abstract
Aims: The purposes of the present study were to clarify the normal variation and to determine the normal reference values of diffusion tensor (DT) parameters (mean diffusivity [MD] and fractional anisotropy [FA]) of the spinal cord in single-shot fast spin-echo-based sequence at 3.0-Tesla (3T). Materials and Methods: Thirty healthy subjects (mean age = 44.2 years, range = 20-72 years) were enrolled for this study. Mean values of MD and FA in six spinal levels (C2/3, C3/4, C4/5, C5/6, C6/7, and C7/Th1) were measured. Mean values, variances, and distributions of the MD and FA in each spinal level were analyzed. Age-dependent change of MD and FA as well as correlation between MD and FA was also analyzed. Results: At all spinal levels, the values can be considered to be Gaussian distribution in MD but not in FA. A significant statistical negative correlation was observed between aging and the values of MD (r = 0.429, P = 0.018), but insignificant between the values of FA (P = 0.234). A slight significant statistical negative correlation was observed between the values of MD and FA (r = 0.156, P = 0.037). One way repeated measures analysis of variance indicated the significant difference between the spinal levels in both MD (P = 0.003) and FA (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: The analyzed data in the present study would be helpful for comparison when investigating the spinal condition of spinal disorders.
- Subjects
SPINAL cord diseases; DIFFUSION tensor imaging; MEDICAL imaging systems; GAUSSIAN distribution; SPINAL injuries; SPINAL cord injuries
- Publication
Journal of Craniovertebral Junction & Spine, 2011, Vol 2, Issue 2, p77
- ISSN
0974-8237
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.4103/0974-8237.100060