Diffusion tensor imaging of the maturing paediatric cervical spinal cord: From the neonate to the young adult

Singhi, Samata; Tekes, Aylin; Thurnher, Majda M.; Gilson, Wesley D.; Izbudak, Izlem; Thompson, Carol B.; Huisman, Thierry A.G.M.

doi:10.1016/j.neurad.2011.05.002

Cited by 17 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to examine developmental and sex differences in DTI parameters of the entire pediatric SC. One previous study did examine FA and ADC changes in the pediatric cervical spine, 4 with findings similar to those in our study. The results of this study showed that with increasing age, FA increased along the cervical and thoracic SC.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…2,3 In contrast to the studies in adults, 1 study has evaluated the age-dependent evolution of FA and ADC values of the pediatric cervical SC. 4 There are no studies, to date to our knowledge, describing the age-related changes in the DTI parameters along the entire cervical and thoracic SC in pediatric subjects. The usefulness of DTI has been shown for examining the cervical SC in pediatric subjects.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Normal Cervical and Thoracic Pediatric Spinal Cord

Saksena¹,

Middleton

Krisa

et al. 2016

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol

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BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: DTI data of the normal healthy spinal cord in children are limited compared with adults and are typically focused on the cervical spinal cord. The purpose of this study was the following: to investigate the feasibility of obtaining repeatable DTI parameters along the entire cervical and thoracic spinal cord as a function of age in typically developing pediatric subjects; to analyze the DTI parameters among different transverse levels of the cervical and thoracic spinal cord; and to examine the sex differences in DTI parameters along the cervical and thoracic spinal cord.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffusion Tensor Imaging of the Normal Cervical and Thoracic Pediatric Spinal Cord

Saksena¹,

Middleton

Krisa

et al. 2016

AJNR Am J Neuroradiol

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“…This result correlates with the previous DTI studies which showed an age-related ADC decrease and FA increase in the brain [14,16,17]. Recently Singhi et al showed age-related ADC decrease and FA increase in the UC spinal cord in 41 normal children [11]. Otherwise there are no previous studies, to our knowledge, that investigated the normal diffusion metrics of the spinal cord in children from infancy to adulthood.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

“…There are even less studies in children and hardly any normative data [5,6,11,12]. Age-specific normative data are necessary to identify and grade spinal cord pathology in developing children.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diffusion Tensor Scalars Vary with Age and Across Spinal Levels in Children

Izbudak¹,

Dumrongpisutikul²,

Thompson³

2015

J Neurol Neurosci

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Purpose: 1) To evaluate the maturational evolution of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and fractional anisotropy (FA) of the normal pediatric cervical as well as upper thoracic cord, 2) to evaluate whether ADC and FA values vary at different levels within the spinal cord [upper cervical (UC), lower cervical (LC) and upper thoracic (UT)]. Methods:Normal pediatric MRI and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) studies of the spinal cord obtained with a 1.5 Tesla MR scanner were retrospectively analyzed. ADC and FA maps were reconstructed from the DTI data. Regions of interest were manually placed at the center of the cervical and upper thoracic cord at the intervertebral disk levels in mid-sagittal plane. The ADC and FA values were analyzed by linear regression and a general linear model with repeated measures.Results: Forty-seven subjects ranged in age from 2 months-17.5 years (mean ± standard deviation: 74.3 ± 61.1 months) were included in the study. At all spinal cord levels a statistically significant decrease in ADC and increase in FA with increasing child's age was evident. The ADC values of the UC/LC levels were higher than those of UT while the FA values did not show significant differences.Conclusion: DTI scalars vary with age, likely due to ongoing maturational processes, and ADC values vary across levels of the spinal cord. Consequently when quantitative DTI of the spinal cord is undertaken in children; an age and levelmatched normative data should be used to accurately interpret the quantitative results.Keywords: Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC), Fractional Anisotropy (FA), Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) motion artifacts. These artifacts affect the thoracic cord the most at mid thoracic level, therefore the majority of the prior studies focused on cervical spine or even upper cervical spine.There are even less studies in children and hardly any normative data [5,6,11,12]. Age-specific normative data are necessary to identify and grade spinal cord pathology in developing children. Similar to the brain, many ongoing maturational processes 2 ARCHIVOS DE MEDICINA

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“…Therefore, reliably fast, high-resolution DTI of the pediatric CSC is required, and various techniques of DTI have been investigated in children [3][4][5][6]11]. Age-related decreases in mean diffusivity (MD) and increases in fractional anisotropy (FA) in the CSC and upper thoracic cord have been observed in a cohort of healthy, developing children [12]. FA is a measure of the degree of anisotropy, and MD is the trace of the diffusion tensor matrix, and DTI metrics of different pathologies allow more accurate characterization of intrinsic integrity of tissues including cellular density and architecture [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%