CompletedNot Applicable

DTI of the Brain and Cervical Spine: Evaluation in Normal Subjects and Patients With Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy

United States26 participantsStarted 2013-01

Plain-language summary

More than half of the middle-aged population has radiologic evidence of cervical spondylosis (Irvine 1965) and a subset of this population develops cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), a condition in which the spinal cord is impaired, either by direct mechanical compression or indirectly by arterial deprivation and/or venous stasis. In this study we aim to test the hypothesis that diffusion tensor imaging can provide prognostic information on the integrity of the spine in these patients which is unavailable from conventional MRI images

Who can participate

Age range30 Years – 70 Years

SexALL

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Inclusion Criteria: * 20 patients will be selected by an experienced team of orthopedic specialist from the Emory Orthopaedics \& Spine Center and will include patients suffering signs and symptoms of cervical myelopathy and with evidence of radiographic cervical cord compression with or without abnormal spinal cord signal intensity secondary to spondylosis. * 20 controls : Aged matched to the patient group. No history of CSM. Exclusion Criteria: * Any history of significant trauma implicating the brain or cervical spine, including prior motor vehicle collision and history of prior brain, neck or cervical spine surgery. * Any history of neurological disease * Dental braces or similar orthodontic devices. * Claustrophobia

What they're measuring

Diffusion properties of the spinal cord

Timeframe: The diffusion properties are measured in a single imaging session lasting approximately 50 minutes.

Trial details

NCT IDNCT01868958

SponsorEmory University

Sponsor typeOTHER

Study typeOBSERVATIONAL

Primary completion2015-06