Magnetic resonance tractography of the cervical spine.
By Admin | September 28, 2025
Emilio P Supsupin, Alejandro Serrano, Christopher Louviere, Luke Pearson, Mauricio Hernandez, Vashisht Sekar, Aboubakr Amer, Ulas Cikla, Mayur Virarkar, Kazim Z Gumus Emilio P Supsupin, Alejandro Serrano, Christopher Louviere, Luke Pearson, Mauricio Hernandez, Mayur Virarkar, Kazim Z Gumus, Department of Radiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL 32209, United States
Vashisht Sekar, Aboubakr Amer, Ulas Cikla, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL 32209, United States
ORCID number: Alejandro Serrano (0009-0002-9985-1560); Christopher Louviere (0009-0001-7307-8314); Mayur Virarkar (0000-0002-5825-3102); Kazim Z Gumus (0000-0002-1450-6868).
Co-corresponding authors: Alejandro Serrano and Kazim Z Gumus.
BACKGROUND
Spinal cord injury can lead to long-term disability, but current imaging methods are limited in predicting outcomes. Rapid diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) has shown promise, yet its clinical utility remains underexplored.
AIM
To evaluate the potential applications of a short DTI sequence, incorporated into a cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocol, for characterizing a range of symptomatic spinal cord pathologies. We propose that cervical spine tractography can provide essential diagnostic information beyond what is currently available from conventional MRI
METHODS
We utilized a quick DTI sequence to create tractography models of the cervical spinal cord in four patients with distinct pathologies of various etiologies: Cord contusion, metastasis, myelopathy, and multiple sclerosis. We used DSI Studio software for post-processing of tractography cases. Fiber tract findings for each pathology case were compared to five control cases from the same scanner by looking for individual differences in white matter tract integrity based on the fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD) of the regions of interest from controls. These correlated with clinical presentations and conventional MRI findings.
RESULTS Control cases showed consistent and intact tract patterns with stable FA and MD values. In pathological cases, abnormalities in fiber orientation and...(More)
For more info please read, Magnetic resonance tractography of the cervical spine, by Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
