TRANSITION OF THE CRANIOCAUDAL VELOCITY OF THE SPINAL-CORD - FROM CERVICAL SEGMENT TO LUMBAR ENLARGEMENT

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES. The authors investigate the craniocaudal vel ocity of the spinal cord over its full length by using magnetic resona nce imaging. METHODS. A spin-echo pulse sequence with velocity encodin g gradients was used to examine five normal volunteers, Oblique-axial phase images at nine levels, from cervical spinal cord to lumbar enlar gement, were obtained with prospective electrocardiogram gating, Time- velocity curves were then generated for these levels. RESULTS. Every p art of the spinal cord moves first caudally after the R-wave of the el ectrocardiogram, then cranially, When compared with the cranial levels , peak velocity tend to occur later and their values tend to be smalle r at the more caudal levels. CONCLUSIONS. Craniocaudal velocity is tra nsmitted from cervical segment to lumbar enlargement.