Abstract #0560

Diffusion Tensor Imaging and ActiveAx analysis of Post-Mortem Human Cervical Spinal Cord Injury

Nikolai I Lesack^1,2,3, Sarah Rosemary Morris^1,2,3, Taylor Swift-LaPointe², Andrew Yung^1,3,4, Valentin Prevost^1,3,4, Shana George⁵, Andrew Bauman⁴, Piotr Kozlowski^1,2,3,4, Farah Samadi^1,5, Caron Fournier^1,5, Lisa Parker⁶, Kevin Dong¹, Femke Streijger¹, Veronica Hirsch-Reinshagen^1,5,6, G. R. Wayne Moore^1,5,6, Brian Kwon^1,7, and Cornelia Laule^1,2,3,5

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, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁵Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁶Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada, ⁷Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Synopsis

Keywords: Spinal Cord, Diffusion/other diffusion imaging techniques, trauma, spinal cord injury, post-mortem, wallerian degeneration, axons, ActiveAx, DTI

7T Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and ActiveAx analysis techniques were used to probe the microstructural properties of post-mortem human spinal cord injury tissue. A decrease in DTI fractional anisotropy was observed caudal to (below) the injury epicenter for descending tracts and rostral to (above) the injury epicenter for ascending tracts. All cords displayed increased axon diameter in ascending tracts rostral to the injury site, which may be evidence of axonal swelling. A decrease in axon density for the two subjects with the longest injury-to-death interval may indicate the time scale of Wallerian degeneration-induced axonal damage observable using ActiveAx.

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