In vivo MR vessel size imaging of brain vascular plasticity after experimental spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to neuronal cell death, axonal damage and demyelination. Brain undergo anatomical changes following SCI. Recently MR vessel size imaging has shown promising application in visualizing neovascularization. In this study we explored the possibility to vascular morphology changes and angiogenesis in the regions along the cranial corticospinal tract (CST) in SCI using vessel size imaging. The results showed increased microvascular density (Density), mean vessel diameter (mVD) and vessel size index (VSI) values in contralateral pyramids four weeks post-injury compared to pre-injury levels. Thus, vessel size imaging could provide valuable information of neovascularization in brain after SCI.