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Abstract #3192

Acute in Vivo DTI Predicts Chronic Neurological Disability in Rats Suffering Traumatic Spinal Cord Injury

Joong H. Kim1, David K. S. Magnuson2, Sheng-Kwei Song1

1Radiology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA; 2Neurological Surgery and Anatomical Sciences & Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, USA


Acute in vivo DTI was performed on rats suffering contusive injury at thoracic cord with a 4.7 T magnet. The high resolution DTI maps sensitively reflected injury severity of white matter accurately correlating with neurological functions assessed chronically. These preliminary results suggested that in vivo DTI derived parameters effectively reflecting spinal cord white matter injury and predicting long term neurological outcome.

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