Characterization of spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging metrics in clinically asymptomatic pediatric subjects with incidental congenital lesions.

Study Design: Retrospective study.

Objectives: To perform quantitative DTI measurements of the entire cervical and thoracic spinal cord (SC) in typically developing (TD) pediatric subjects with incidental findings of syringomyelia or hydromyelia on conventional MRI and in a TD population without any abnormalities.

Setting: USA.

Methods: 26 TD recruited as part of large SC DTI study, four of these had incidental findings. Axial DTI images were acquired on 3T MR scanner to cover the cervical and thoracic SC. We performed group analysis of DTI values in the cord above and below the MR-defined lesion. For single-subject analysis, the cord above and below the lesion was compared to average values of TD population. A standard least squares regression model was used to compare DTI parameters fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD) between TD population and subjects with hydromyelia and syringomyelia. A value of 0.05 was used for statistical significance.

Results: In group analysis, MD and AD were significantly different in cord above the lesion in subjects with hydromyelia and syringomyelia ( = 4) compared to TD population ( = 22). For single-subject analysis, DTI parameters were significantly different in cord above the syringomyelia and below the syringomyelia; MD, AD, and RD were significantly different. A subject with hydromyelia showed significant difference in FA below the lesion.

Conclusions: This study demonstrates that DTI has the potential to be used as an imaging biomarker to evaluate SC above and below the congenital lesion in syringohydromyelia subjects.