Motivation: Underlying mechanisms of spinal cord injury (SCI), including structural and myelin changes are understudied. T1 quantification is indirectly sensitive to tissue microstructure along the central nervous system (CNS). Goal(s): To investigate SCI-induced tissue changes using MP2RAGE T1 quantification above and below the lesion site. Approach: Quantitative T1 (qT1) values were obtained in 18 SCI and 20 healthy subjects using an optimized MP2RAGE sequence covering both the brain and cervical cord (C1-C7). Results: SCI showed significantly higher qT1 values in the cervical cord compared to healthy subjects, suggesting myelin alterations remote from the site of injury. Impact: T1 mapping along the central nervous system enables better understanding anterograde and retrograde degenerative processes in vivo after SCI within scan times appropriate for clinical routine.
Lebret et al. (Tue,) studied this question.