Yoon NY, Ha DH, Lee SM, Choi HJ. Diffusion-Weighted MR Neurography with Unidirectional Motion-Probing Gradient to Evaluate Lumbar Nerve Roots at 1.5T MR.
JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF RADIOLOGY 2024;
85:607-617. [PMID:
38873379 PMCID:
PMC11166579 DOI:
10.3348/jksr.2023.0052]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/15/2024]
Abstract
Purpose
Recent studies have demonstrated the usefulness of diffusion-weighted MR neurography (DW MRN) for assessing nerve roots. This study aimed to evaluate the utility of DW MRN with a unidirectional motion-probing gradient (MPG) for the lumbar nerve roots at 1.5T MR.
Materials and Methods
Sixty-four lumbar spine MRI scans with DW MRN using anteroposterior unidirectional MPG were retrospectively analyzed. Any changes in the 512 lumbar spinal nerve roots from L3 to S1 were evaluated using T2-weighted imaging (T2WI), contrast-enhanced T1-weighted imaging (CE T1WI), and DW MRN, with agreement and correlation analysis.
Results
T2WI revealed compression of 78 nerve roots, and CE T1WI revealed 52 instances of nerve root enhancement. Sixty-seven nerve roots showed swelling and hyperintensity on DW MRN. A total of 42 nerve roots showed changes in the CE T1WI and DW MRN sequences. Moderate to substantial agreement and moderate positive correlation were observed between DW MRN and CE T1WI, as well as DW MRN and T2WI (κ = 0.59-0.65, ρ = 0.600-0.653).
Conclusion
DW MRN with unidirectional anteroposterior MPG can help evaluate neuritis-related changes in spinal nerve roots and could serve as a sequence capable of complementing or substituting gadolinium CE imaging.
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