The Value of MRI in the Clinical Staging of Spinal Cord Multiple Sclerosis

Objective:To evaluate the MRI manifestations in different clinical stages of spinal cord multiple sclerosis (MS).Methods:43 cases of spinal cord MS which were divided into acute,resting and remitting-relapsing stage according to clinic settings,had brain and spinal cord MRI,and their MRI findings were analyzed retrospectively.Results:The MRI manifestations of spinal cord MS were intra-spinal cord well-defined patches with hypo-/iso-intensity on T_1WI and hyper-intensity on T_2WI.In the acute stage (n=11),the diseased spinal cords were slightly to moderately swollen in all cases,showing patchy or ring-like enhancement (n=9) and nodular enhancement (n=1) after intravenously administration of Gd-DTPA,enhancement of the lesions were obviously smaller than that shown on T_2WI;There was no enhancement in 1 case.4 cases had dilatation of central canal of spinal cord.Reduction of the size of lesion and swollen of spinal cord were shown after steroid therapy (n=8).In the resting stage (n=17),the shape and size of spinal cord were normal in 14 cases(82.4%),with no enhancement of the spinal cord lesion after intravenously administration of Gd-DTPA.In the remitting-relapsing stage,9 cases (73.3%) had spinal cord atrophy,showing dotted or linear enhancement in 5 cases.There were no significant difference in the extent and distribution of lesions in different clinical stages.Conclusion:MRI was helpful in the evaluation of the clinic stage and their pathologic changes of spinal cord MS,and played important role in the clinical application of spinal cord MS staging.