Joong Hee Kim1, David S. K. Magnuson2,
Sheng-Kwei Song1
1Radiology, Washington University , St.
Louis, MO, United States; 2Neurological Surgery and Anatomical
Sciences & Neurobiology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, United
States
Diffusion
tensor imaging (DTI) has been widely employed to assess central nervous
system white matter integrity in animal models and patients. Herein, we
demonstrate for the first time that the axonal injury marker derived by DTI
as early as 3 hours post-spinal cord contusion, a time point when no existing
modality is capable of assessing underlying axonal injury or the neurological
disability, reflects injury severity and accurately predicts long-term
neurological function.
Keywords