Can microstructural MRI detect subclinical tissue injury in subjects with asymptomatic cervical spinal cord compression? a prospective cohort study

Objectives: Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) involves extrinsic spinal cord compression causing tissue injury and neurological dysfunction. Asymptomatic spinal cord compression (ASCC) is more common but its significance is poorly defined. This study investigates if: 1) ASCC can be automatically diagnosed using spinal cord shape analysis; 2) multiparametric quantitative MRI can detect similar spinal cord tissue injury as previously observed in DCM.
Design: Prospective observational longitudinal cohort study.
Setting: Single centre, tertiary care and research institution.
Participants: 40 neurologically intact subjects (19 female, 21 male) divided into groups with and without ASCC.
Interventions: None.
Outcome Measures: Clinical assessments: modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) score and physical examination. 3T MRI assessments: automated morphometric analysis compared with consensus ratings of spinal cord compression, and measures of tissue injury: cross-sectional ...