Sandra Michelle Meyers1,2, Erin L. MacMillan3, Burkhard Mdler4, Irene M. Vavasour5, David K. Li5, Marcel F. Dvorak6,7, Armin Curt6,8, Alex L. MacKay5,9
1University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 2Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; 3Dept. of Clinical Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; 4Philips Healthcare, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 5Dept. of Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 6International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 7Dept. of Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 8Dept. of Neurology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 9Dept. of Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) is a disease characterized by narrowing of the spinal canal, or stenosis, which alters the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) through the spinal canal. The goal of this study was to investigate the changes in velocity of both CSF flow and spinal cord motion caused by a stenosis, as measured by phase contrast MRI in the cranial-caudal direction. Results indicated a significant decrease in CSF flow and increase in spinal cord motion in CSM subjects, which may suggest that spinal cord motion is a consequence of the lack of CSF flow.