Visualization of Vascular Modifications Occuring During Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Recovery Using High-Resolution Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL)

Guillaume Duhamel¹, Patrick Decherchi², Tanguy Marqueste², Patrick J. Cozzone¹, Virginie Callot¹

Diffusion and perfusion MRI might be among the techniques of choice for the characterization of spinal cord injury (SCI) by allowing the detection of functional impairments and deficient tissue blood supply. In this study, functional tests, high-resolution DTI and ASL-perfusion images were obtained on a mouse SCI model (compression). Absolute quantitative results obtained in a follow-up study with presat-FAIR ASL demonstrated high variation of perfusion values, highlighting then the presence and the importance of a vascular role in SCI.