Jl. Becerra et al., MR-PATHOLOGICAL COMPARISONS OF WALLERIAN DEGENERATION IN SPINAL-CORD INJURY, American journal of neuroradiology, 16(1), 1995, pp. 125-133
Citations number
15
Categorie Soggetti
Neurosciences,"Radiology,Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging
PURPOSE: To describe the MR manifestations and temporal course of wall
erian degeneration that occurs above and below a spinal cord injury, a
nd to compare the MR findings with postmortem histopathology. METHOD:
Twenty-four postmortem spinal cords from patients with cervical (n = 1
4), thoracic (n = 6), and lumbar (n = 4) cord injuries were studied wi
th axial T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo MR imaging. Injury-to-death int
ervals varied from 8 days to 23 years. The images were examined for al
teration of signal above and below the injury site. Histologic studies
of these cords with axon, myelin, and connective tissue stains were p
erformed at levels equivalent to the MR sections. Immunohistochemical
analysis using antibodies to glial fibrillary acetic protein was also
performed on 19 cords. Pathologic-imaging comparisons were made. RESUL
TS: MR images showed increased signal intensity in the dorsal columns
above the injury level and in the lateral corticospinal tracts below t
he injury level in all cases in which cord injury had occurred 7 or mo
re weeks before death. In early postinjury survival times (8 days and
12 days) MR findings were normal; histologically there was early walle
rian degeneration in only the dorsal columns at 8 days and in both the
lateral and dorsal columns at 12 days. MR showed wallerian degenerati
on in all cases examined at 7 weeks after injury and thereafter. CONCL
USIONS: Wallerian degeneration was demonstrated by histology and MR in
all specimens in which the injury-to-death interval was greater than
7 weeks. Recognition of wallerian degeneration on MR allows complete a
nalysis of the injury, explains abnormal MR signals at sites remote fr
om the epicenter of the injury, and may be useful in the future in the
timing and planning of therapeutic interventions.