Diffusion tensor tractography in pediatric spinal cord

Generation of spinal cord tracts from diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the pediatric spinal cord can be extremely beneficial to visualize the connectivity of nerve fibers, to reveal patterns of overall diffusivity and anisotrophy of the fibers, overall architectural features, and integrity of the spinal cord. Twenty pediatric subjects were scanned: ten controls without evidence of spinal cord pathology and ten patients with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) were scanned using a newly developed reduced field of view (FoV) DTI method on a 3T scanner. After motion correction, tractography images were generated based on Fiber Assignment by Continuous Tracking (FACT) algorithm. Various DTI indices as well as tract specific information were calculated using regions of interest manually drawn at every axial slice location along the cervical spinal cord. Results showed average values of FA=0.60±0.13, MD=0.74±0.18×10-3 mm2/s in normal subjects and FA=0.45±0.14, MD=0.77±0.24×10-3 mm2/s in SCI patients. In conclusion, this study showed that tractography images can be successfully generated from pediatric spinal cord DTI data and various DTI parameters can be reliably estimated.