Valor pronóstico de la resonancia magnética en la rehabilitación de la lesión medular traumática

Abstract

Objectives: To analyze the relationship between magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) alterations and neurological recovery in individuals with traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI). Methods: Retrospective study carried out on patients with tSCI and MRI carried out in the acute moment. Alterations in the spinal cord signal, existence of spinal cord compression (SCC) and vertebral ligaments disruption (VLD) were assessed in the image. AIS Injury Severity (AIS) score at admission and discharge was compared. Results: 40.9% of the individuals with one-level edema and 20.2% of those with long edema improved their AIS grade while percentage was 19.0% for the hemorrhages. Variation of motor index (MI) was also significantly different in the groups, respectively 59.8±27.2, 42.5±29 and 41.6±21.7. 31.6% of individuals with SCC improved their AIS grade compared to 42.7% of those whit no compression, and 31.3% of cases with VLD improved compared to 37.8% of the control group. Regarding the MI, the percentage of change in individuals with SCC was lower: 35.1±37.5% for 49.4±38.1%. Similar happened with the patients with VLD, being the percentages 28.5±37.1% and 46.0±37.5%. Conclusions: Neurological evolution in tSCI is worse in individuals who concur with parenchymal hemorrhage, SCC and VLD.