Preliminary report on the use of MRI in acute spinal trauma

Forty three Magnetic Resonance (MR) studies were performed on 28 patients using a 1.5 Tesla magnet and surface coil. Imaging was performed between day 1 and day 16 after suspected cord injury. In several patients, repeat MR studies were performed to evaluate the resolution of the cord lesions. Three types of MR signal patterns were seen in association with the cord injuries. Patients with intraspinal hemorrhage did not have significant neurological recovery while patients with cord edema/contusion recovered significant neurological function. MR imaging would seem extremely useful in the diagnosis of acute cord injury and also appears to demonstrate the potential for predicting neurological recovery.