- Intraforaminal Location of Thoracolumbar Radicular Arteries Providing an Anterior Radiculomedullary Artery Using Flat Panel Catheter Angiotomography
Ninety-four flat panel catheter angiotomography acquisitions obtained during the selective injection of intersegmental arteries providing an anterior radiculomedullary artery were reviewed. The location of radicular arteries could be ascertained in 78/94 flat panel catheter angiotomography acquisitions. Fifty-three acquisitions (67.9%) were on the left side, and 25 (32.1%), on the right, between T2 and L3. The arteries were found in the anterosuperior quadrant in 75 cases (96.2%), in the posterosuperior quadrant in 2 (2.6%), and in the anteroinferior quadrant in 1(1.3%). Needle placement in the anterosuperior quadrant (subpedicular approach) should be avoided during transforaminal epidural steroid injection. The authors advocate the posterolateral approach that allows placing the needle tip away from the documented position of ARMA contributors within the neural foramen, reducing the risk of intra-arterial injection or injury to the spinal vascularization.
- MRI Atlas-Based Measurement of Spinal Cord Injury Predicts Outcome in Acute Flaccid Myelitis
Using the open source platform, the “Spinal Cord Toolbox,” the authors sought to correlate measures of GM, WM, and cross-sectional area pathology on T2 MR imaging with motor disability in 9 patients with acute flaccid myelitis. Proportion of GM metrics at the center axial section significantly correlated with measures of motor impairment upon admission and at 3-month follow-up. The proportion of GM extracted across the full lesion segment significantly correlated with initial motor impairment. This is the first atlas-based study to correlate clinical outcomes with segmented measures of T2 signal abnormality in the spinal cord.