Abstract #1179

Inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer and DBSI detect downstream white matter damage in post-mortem human cervical spinal cord injury

Sarah Rosemary Morris^1,2,3, Andrew Yung^1,3,4, Valentin Prevost^1,3,4, Shana I George⁵, Piotr Kozlowski^1,2,3,4, Andrew Bauman^1,3,4, Farah Samadi^1,6, Caron Fournier^1,6, Lisa Parker⁷, Kevin Dong¹, Femke Streijger¹, G.R. Wayne Moore^1,6,7,8, Brian Kwon^1,9,10, and Cornelia Laule^1,2,3,6

¹International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ²Physics & Astronomy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ³Radiology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁴UBC MRI Research Centre, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁵Carson Graham Secondary School, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁶Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁷Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁸Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁹Vancouver Spine Surgery Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ¹⁰Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Spinal cord injuries are heterogeneous, with complex microstructure which changes over time. We used 7T Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), Diffusion Basis Spectrum Imaging (DBSI) and inhomogeneous Magnetization Transfer (ihMT) to investigate microstructural damage in post-mortem human spinal cord injury tissue. We measured sharp decreases in DTI fractional anisotropy and DBSI fiber fraction at the injury epicentre of the three cords with the most severe injuries. We found evidence for downstream demyelination (ihMT) and axonal loss (DTI FA, DBSI fiber fraction) in the two cords with the longest injury-death interval suggesting a time-frame for the detection of Wallerian degeneration by MRI.

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