Seminars in Roentgenology
Volume 41, Issue 4 , Pages 294-311 , October 2006

Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Spine and Spinal Cord

  • Majda M. Thurnher, MD

      Affiliations

    • Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology Section, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress reprint requests to Majda M. Thurnher, MD, Medical University of Vienna, Department of Radiology, Neuroradiology Section, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna, Austria.
  • ,
  • Roland Bammer, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Lucas MRS/I Center, Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.

References 

  1. Le Bihan D . Molecular diffusion nuclear magnetic resonance imaging . Magn Reson Q . 1991;7:1–30
  2. Bammer R . Basic principles of diffusion-weighted imaging . Eur J Radiol . 2003;45:169–184
  3. Lansberg MG , Mangin JF , Poupon C , et al.   Comparison of diffusion-weighted MRI and CT in acute stroke . Neurology . 2000;54:1557–1561
  4. Lutsep HL , Albers GW , DeCrespigny A , et al.   Clinical utility of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the assessment of ischemic stroke . Ann Neurol . 1997;41:574–580
  5. Larsson HBW , Thomsen C , Fredriksen J , et al.   In vivo magnetic resonance diffusion measurements in the brain of patients with multiple sclerosis . Magn Reson Imaging . 1992;10:7–12
  6. Christensen P , Gideon P , Thomsen C , et al.   Increased water self-diffusion in chronic plaques and in apparently normal white matter in patients with multiple sclerosis . Acta Neurol Scand . 1993;87:195–197
  7. Sundgren PC , Reinstrup P , Romner B , et al.   Value of conventional, and diffusion-and perfusion weighted MRI in the management of patients with unclear cerebral pathology, admitted to the intensive care unit . Neuroradiology . 2002;44:674–680
  8. Arfanakis K , Haughton VM , Carew JD , et al.   Diffusion tensor MR imaging in diffuse axonal injury . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2002;23:794–802
  9. Barker GJ . Diffusion-weighted imaging of the spinal cord and optic nerve . J Neurolog Sci . 2001;186:S45–S49
  10. Sagiuchi T , Tachibana S , Endo M , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MRI of the cervical cord in acute spinal cord injury with type II odontoid fracture . J Comput Assist Tomogr . 2002;26:654–656
  11. Schwartz ED , Chin CL , Takahashi M , et al.   Diffusion-weighted imaging of the spinal cord . Neuroimaging Clin N Am . 2002;12:125–146
  12. Bammer R , Herneth AM , Maier SE , et al.   Line scan diffusion imaging of the spine . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2003;2003:5–12
  13. Holder CA , Muthupillai R , Mukundan S , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of the normal human spinal cord in vivo . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2000;21:1799–1806
  14. Bammer R , Augustin M , Prokesch R , et al.   Diffusion-weighted imaging of the spinal cord: interleaved echo-planar imaging is superior to fast spin-echo . J Magn Reson Med . 2002;15:364–373
  15. Bammer R , Fazekas F . Diffusion imaging of the human spinal cord and the vertebral column . Top Magn Reson Imaging . 2003;14(6):461–476
  16. Nagayoshi K , Kimura S , Ochi M , et al.   Diffusion-weighted echo planar imaging of the normal human cervical spinal cord . J Comput Assist Tomogr . 2000;24:482–485
  17. Robertson RL , Maier SE , Mulkern RV , et al.   MR line-scan diffusion imaging of the spinal cord in children . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2000;21:1344–1348
  18. Ries M , Jones RA , Dousset V , et al.   Diffusion tensor MRI of the spinal cord . Magnetic Resonance in Medicine . 2000;44:884–892
  19. Wheeler-Kingshott CAM , Hickman SJ , Parker GJM , et al.   Investigating cervical spinal cord structure using axial diffusion tensor imaging . Neuroimage . 2002;16:93–102
  20. Tsuchiya K , Katase S , Fujikawa A , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MRI of the cervical spinal cord using a single-shot fast spin-echo technique: findings in normal subjects and in myelomalacia . Neuroradiology . 2003;45:90–94
  21. Xu D , Henry RG , Mukherjee P , et al.   Single-shot fast spin-echo diffusion tensor imaging of the brain and spine with head and phased array coils at 1.5 T and 3.0 T . Magn Reson Imaging . 2004;22:751–759
  22. Nagakawa K , Sakuma H , Ichikawa Y . Vertebral compression fractures: differentiation between benign and malignant lesions with diffusion-weighted single-shot echo-planar MR imaging (abstract) . Eur Radiol . 2000;10:154
  23. Reyes O , Sosa I , Kuffler DP . Neuroprotection of spinal neurons against blunt trauma and ischemia . PR Health Sci J . 2003;22:277–286
  24. Nadeltchev K , Loher TJ , Stepper F , et al.   Long-term outcome of acute spinal cord ischemia syndrome . Stroke . 2004;35:560–565
  25. Gass A , Back T , Behrens S , Maras A . MRI of spinal cord infarction . Neurology . 2000;54(11):2195
  26. Stepper F , Lovblad KO . Anterior spinal artery stroke demonstrated by echo-planar DWI . Eur Radiol . 2001;11:2607–2610
  27. Sagiuchi T , Iida H , Tachibana S , et al.   Case report: diffusion-weighted MRI in anterior spinal artery stroke of the cervical spinal cord . J Comput Assist Tomogr . 2003;27:410–414
  28. Weidauer S , Dettmann E , Krakow K , et al.   Darstellung von zwei Fällen und Literaturübersicht . Nervenarzt . 2002;73:999–1003
  29. Fujikawa A , Tsuchiya K , Akeuchi S , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging in acute spinal cord ischemia . Eur Radiol . 2004;14:2076–2078
  30. Fujikawa A , Tsuchiya K , Koppera P , et al.   Spinal cord infarction demonstrated on diffusion-weighted MR imaging with a single-shot fast spin-echo sequence . J Comput Assist Tomogr . 2003;27:415–419
  31. Zhang J , Yi H , Yunqiu Q , et al.   Multishot diffusion-weighted imaging features in spinal cord infarction . J Spinal Disord Techn . 2005;18:277–282
  32. Zhang Z , Nonaka H , Nagayama T , et al.   Circulatory disturbance of rat spinal cord induced by occluding of the dorsal spinal vein . Acta Neuropathol . 2001;102:335–338
  33. Küker W , Weller M , Klose U , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MRI of spinal cord infarction (High resolution imaging and time course of diffusion abnormality) . J Neurol . 2004;25:818–824
  34. Loher TJ , Basetti CL , Lövblad KO , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MRI in acute spinal cord ischemia . Neuroradiology . 2003;45:557–561
  35. Liu XZ , Xu XM , Hu R , et al.   Neuronal and glial apoptosis after traumatic spinal cord injury . J Neurosci . 1997;17:5395–5406
  36. Nevo U , Hauben E , Yoles E , et al.   Diffusion anisotropy MRI for quantitative assessment of recovery in injured rat spinal cord . Magn Reson Med . 2001;45:1–9
  37. Schwartz ED , Yezierski RP , Pattany PM , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging in a rat model of syringomyelia after excitotoxic spinal cord injury . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 1999;20:1422–1428
  38. Ford JC , Hackney DB , Alsop DC , et al.   MRI characterization of diffusion coefficients in a rat spinal cord injury model . Magn Reson Med . 1994;31:488–494
  39. Nossin-Manor R , Duvdevani R , Cohen Y . q-space high b value diffusion MRI of hemi-crush in rat spinal cord: evidence for spontaneous regeneration . Magn Reson Imaging . 2002;20:231–241
  40. Nijeholt GJ , Bergers E , Kamphorst W , et al.   Post-mortem high-resolution MRI of the spinal cord in multiple sclerosis: a correlative study with conventional MRI, histopathology and clinical phenotype . Brain . 2001;124:154–166
  41. Clark CA , Werring DJ , Miller DH . Diffusion imaging of the spinal cord in vivo: estimation of the principal diffusivities and application to multiple sclerosis . Magn Reson Med . 2000;43:133–138
  42. Werring DJ , Clark CA , Barker GJ , et al.   Diffusion tensor imaging of lesions and normal appearing white matter in multiple sclerosis . Neurology . 1999;52:1626–1632
  43. Mottershead JP , Schmierer K , Clemence M , et al.   High field MRI correlates of myelin content and axonal density in multiple sclerosis—a post-mortem study of the spinal cord . J Neurol . 2003;250:1293–1301
  44. Biton IE , Mayk A , Kidron D , et al.   Improved detectability of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in excised swine spinal cords by high b-value q-space DWI . Exp Neurol . 2005;195:437–446
  45. Valsasina P , Rocca MA , Agosta F , et al.   Mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy histogram analysis of the cervical cord in MS patients . Neuroimage . 2005;26:822–828
  46. Agosta F , Benedetti B , Rocca MA , et al.   Quantification of cervical cord pathology in primary progressive MS using diffusion tensor MRI . Neurology . 2005;22:631–635
  47. Bammer R , Fazekas F , Augustin M , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of the spinal cord . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2000;21:587–591
  48. Demir A , Ries M , Moonen CTW , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging with apparent diffusion coefficient and apparent diffusion tensor maps in cervical spondylotic myelopathy . Radiology . 2003;229:37–43
  49. Castillo M , Arbelaez A , Fisher LL , et al.   Diffusion-weighted imaging in patients with cervical spondylopathy . Int J Neuroradiol . 1999;5:79–85
  50. Facon D , Ozanne A , Fillard P , et al.   MR diffusion tensor imaging and fiber tracking in spinal cord compression . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2005;26:1587–1594
  51. Maiuri F , Iaconetta G , Gallicchio B , et al.   Spondylodiscitis: clinical and magnetic resonance diagnosis . Spine . 1997;22:1741–1746
  52. Pui MH , Mitha A , Rae WID , et al.   Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging of spinal infection and malignancy . J Neuroimaging . 2005;15:164–170
  53. Friedman DP , Hills JR . Cervical epidural spinal infection: MR imaging characteristics . AJR Am J Radiol . 1994;163:699–704
  54. Kim YJ , Chang KH , Song IC , et al.   Brain abscess and necrotic or cystic brain tumor: discrimination with signal intensity on diffusion weighted MR imaging . AJR Am J Roentgenol . 1998;171:1487–1490
  55. Leuthard EC , Wippold FJ , Oswood MC , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging in the preoperative assessment of brain abscesses . Surg Neurol . 2002;58:395–402
  56. Guzman R , Barth A , Lovblad KO , et al.   Use of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in differentiating purulent brain processes from cystic brain tumors . J Neurosurg . 2002;97:1101–1107
  57. Lai PH , Ho JT , Chen WL , et al.   Brain abscess and necrotic brain tumor: discrimination with proton MR spectroscopy and diffusion-weighted imaging . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2002;23:1369–1377
  58. Eastood JD , Vollmer RT , Provenzale JM . Diffusion-weighted imaging in a patient with vertebral and epidural abscesses . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2002;23:496–498
  59. Castillo M , Arbelaez A , Smith JK , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging offers no advantage over routine noncontrast MR imaging in the detection of vertebral metastases . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2000;21:948–953
  60. Baur A , Stabler A , Bruning R , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of bone marrow: differentiation of benign versus pathologic compression fractures . Radiology . 1998;207:305–307
  61. Baur A , Dietrich O , Reiser M . Diffusion-weighted imaging of the spinal column . Neuroimaging Clin N Am . 2002;12:147–160
  62. Leeds NE , Kumar AJ , Zhou XJ , et al.   Magnetic resonance imaging of benign spinal lesions simulating metastasis: role of diffusion-weighted imaging . Top Magn Reson Imaging . 2000;11:224–234
  63. Spuentrup E , Buecker A , Adam G , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging for differentiation of benign fracture edema and tumor infiltration of the vertebral body . AJR Am J Roentgenol . 2001;176:351–358
  64. Zhou JX , Leeds NE , McKinnon GC , et al.   Characterization of benign and metastatic vertebral compression fractures with quantitative diffusion MR imaging . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2002;23:165–170
  65. Byun WM , Shin SO , Chang Y , et al.   Diffusion-weighted MR imaging of metastatic disease of the spine: assessment of response to therapy . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2002;23:906–912
  66. Herneth AM , Philipp MO , Naude J , et al.   Vertebral metastases: assessment with apparent diffusion coefficient . Radiology . 2002;225:889–894
  67. Mulkern RV , Schwarz RB . Characterization of benign and metastatic vertebral compression fractures with quantitative diffusion MR imaging . AJNR Am J Neuroradiol . 2003;24:1489–1490
  68. Park SW , Lee JH , Ehara S , et al.   Single shot fast spin echo diffusion-weighted MR imaging of the spine (Is it useful in differentiating malignant metastatic tumor infiltration from benign fracture edema?) . J Clin Imaging . 2004;28:102–108
  69. De Bisschop E , Luypaert R , Louis O , et al.   Fat fraction of lumbar bone marrow using in vivo proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy . Bone . 1993;14:133–136
  70. Epelbaum R , Haim N , Ben-Shahar M , et al.   Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma presenting with spinal epidural involvement . Cancer . 1986;58:2120–2124
  71. Salvati M , Cervoni L , Artico M , et al.   Primary spinal epidural non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas: a clinical study . Surg Neurol . 1996;46:339–344
  72. Guo AC , Cummings TJ , Dash RC , et al.   Lymphomas and high-grade astrocytomas: comparison of water diffusibility and histologic characteristics . Radiology . 2002;224:177–183

PII: S0037-198X(06)00048-4

doi: 10.1053/j.ro.2006.07.003

Seminars in Roentgenology
Volume 41, Issue 4 , Pages 294-311 , October 2006