Abstract #4092

MR Spectroscopy of the Motor Cortex in Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: Pre & Post Surgery Observations

Izabela Kowalczyk^1,2, Neil Duggal^1,3, Robert Bartha^1,2

¹Medical Biophysics, the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada; ²Centre for Functional & Metabolite Mapping, Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada; ³Clinical Neurological Sciences, University Hospital, London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ontario, Canada

Twenty-one patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and eleven healthy controls underwent two 1H-MRS sessions 6 months apart on a 3.0 T Siemens Magnetom Tim Trio to characterize metabolite level changes. No differences were detected between the right side (RS) and left side (LS) of the motor cortex in control subjects. Decreased N-Acetyl Aspartate/Creatine (NAA/Cr) was found in the CSM group pre and post-operatively compared to RS and LS controls. Increased Myo-inositol/NAA (Myo/NAA) ratio was found pre-operatively compared to RS controls. The NAA/Cr and Myo/NAA changes suggest neuronal death or dysfunction possibly accompanied by increased glial response.