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

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.