The Treatment Impact of Minocycline On Quantitative MRI in Acute Spinal Cord Injury

Yunyan Zhang¹, V. Wee Yong¹, R. John Hurlbert¹, Steve Casha²

Acute spinal cord injury (SCI) in 50 patients treated with either minocycline (24) or placebo (26) was followed using quantitative MRI. Maximum canal compromise (MCC), maximum spinal cord compression (MSCC), the length and area of T2 hyperintensity on MR images were evaluated at day1, day7, week4, and week52 of injury. While not significantly different (p>0.05) the minocycline group tended to have less MSCC than the placebo group. Similar trend was identified in T2 lesion length and area but at a lesser extent. It suggests that minocycline may be beneficial in acute SCI which however is subject to further confirmation.