Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Fig 1.
Diagram of the cervical spinal cord in cross-section (A) showing regions of interest (ROIs) placed for the measurement of fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity in the anterior, lateral, and posterior spinal cord, bilaterally.
B, Color FA map obtained in control patient at the C2-C3 level.
C, The corresponding black and white FA map is shown with ROIs placed, including a central region of interest. Values have been scaled by a factor of 1000.
- Fig 2.
Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for diagnostic model using fractional anisotropy (FA)mean, FAant,right, and FAcentral (model 1, solid line in 2A and 2B, area under ROC curve (AUC), 0.928; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.813 to 0.982), showing a significantly higher AUC compared with a model using only FAmean (2A, thick dotted line, difference between AUCs = 0.180, P = .012) as well as a model using only FAcentral (2B, thick dotted line, difference between AUCs = 0.274, P = .001). In other words, the best performing test is one in which multiple ROIs provide spatial information.
- Fig 3.
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics of healthy patients within ROIs placed in the anterior, lateral, and posterior spinal cord (bilaterally, with 2 data points per location per patient) at the C2-C3 level. Fractional anisotropy (FA) versus age (A) and mean diffusivity (MD) versus age (B). None of the FA or MD measures exhibited a significant association with patient age (P > .15).
Tables
- Table 1:
Average fractional anisotropy and mean diffusivity in regions of interest in the anterior, lateral, posterior, and central spinal cord at the C2–C3 level, in 24 patients with multiple sclerosis and 24 age- and sex-matched normal volunteers
Anterior Lateral Posterior Central Left Right Left Right Left Right Fractional anisotropy Cases (n = 24) 0.50 ± 0.12 0.50 ± 0.12 0.56 ± 0.12 0.55 ± 0.10 0.52 ± 0.11 0.52 ± 0.12 0.53 ± 0.10 Controls (n = 24) 0.51 ± 0.09 0.49 ± 0.10 0.69 ± 0.11 0.69 ± 0.10 0.63 ± 0.11 0.64 ± 0.11 0.58 ± 0.10 P values .63 .67 <.0001 <.0001 .001 .001 .05 Mean diffusivity (×10−3 mm−2s−1) Cases 0.92 ± 0.21 0.99 ± 0.30 0.91 ± 0.29 0.92 ± 0.26 0.92 ± 0.22 0.92 ± 0.24 0.89 ± 0.18 Controls 0.86 ± 0.17 0.86 ± 0.17 0.79 ± 0.16 0.75 ± 0.25 0.80 ± 0.11 0.81 ± 0.12 0.81 ± 0.14 P values .33 .06 .06 .02 .03 .06 .077 Model Effect df Wald Chi-Square P Value 1 Sex* 1 2.5362 .1113 Age* 1 0.8098 .3682 FAmean 1 8.5093 .0035 FAant, right 1 7.3482 .0067 FAcentral 1 4.5314 .0333 2 Sex* 1 0.8292 .3625 Age* 1 0.0219 .8823 FAant, right 1 4.8448 .0277 FAlat, left 1 13.6320 .0002 3 Sex* 1 0.0031 .9555 Age* 1 0.0008 .9776 MDlat, right 1 5.1438 .0233 Note:—FA indicates fractional anisotropy; MD, mean diffusivity; subscripts ant and lat, anterior and lateral; df, degrees of freedom.
* Forced into model.
In this issue
Jump to section
Related Articles
Cited By...
- Multimodal diagnostics in multiple sclerosis: predicting disability and conversion from relapsing-remitting to secondary progressive disease course - protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis
- Quantitative spinal cord MRI in radiologically isolated syndrome
- Spinal cord grey matter abnormalities are associated with secondary progression and physical disability in multiple sclerosis
- A Better Characterization of Spinal Cord Damage in Multiple Sclerosis: A Diffusional Kurtosis Imaging Study
- Pulse-Triggered DTI Sequence with Reduced FOV and Coronal Acquisition at 3T for the Assessment of the Cervical Spinal Cord in Patients with Myelitis
- Reduced Field-of-View Diffusion Imaging of the Human Spinal Cord: Comparison with Conventional Single-Shot Echo-Planar Imaging
- Axial Diffusivity Is the Primary Correlate of Axonal Injury in the Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis Spinal Cord: A Quantitative Pixelwise Analysis