Severity of spinal cord injury influences diffusion tensor imaging of the brain

Background The purpose of this study was to determine whether DTI changes in the brain induced by a thoracic spinal cord injury are sensitive to varying severity of spinal contusion in rats. Methods A control, mild, moderate, or severe contusion injury was administered over the eighth thoracic vertebral level in 32 Sprague‐Dawley rats. At 11 weeks postinjury, ex vivo DTI of the brain was performed on a 9.4T Bruker scanner using a pulsed gradient spin‐echo sequence. Results Mean water diffusion in the internal capsule regions of the brain and pyramid locations of the brainstem were correlated with motor function (r2 = 0.55). Additionally, there were significant differences between injury severity groups for mean diffusivity and fractional anisotropy at regions associated with the corticospinal tract (P = 0.05). Conclusion These results indicate that DTI is sensitive to changes in brain tissue as a consequence of thoracic SCI. J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2016;43:63–74.