Abstract: Objective To observe the relationship between spinal cord cystic degeneration, spinal cord movement improvement and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values after early cervical spinal cord injury. Methods 18 patients with early cervical spinal cord injury were examined with MRI T1WI, T2WI and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). Then ADC values and ADC maps were obtained. Their ASIA motor scores were also recorded. The relationship between spinal cord cystic degeneration and spinal cord movement improvement and ADC values was analyzed. Results ADC values were lower in those with cystic degeneration than without cystic degeneration in early cervical spinal cord injury, and the cut-off point was 700×10-6 mm2/s. ADC values were positively correlated with age. The movement improvement did not obviously correlate with ADC values. Conclusion ADC values of early cervical spinal cord injury are less than 700×10-6 mm2/s when cystic degeneration happened. Motor function recovery of patients with early cervical spinal cord injury cannot be estimated by measuring ADC values.

Key words: spinal cord injuries, apparent diffusion coefficient, spinal cord cystic degeneration, motor function, magnetic resonance imaging