• Roberta Costanzo, Lara Brunasso, Federica Paolini, Umberto Emanuele Benigno, Massimiliano Porzio, Giuseppe Roberto Giammalva, Rosa Maria Gerardi, Giuseppe Emmanuele Umana, Rina di Bonaventura, Carmelo Lucio Sturiale, Massimiliano Visocchi, Domenico Gerardo Iacopino, and Rosario Maugeri.
• Neurosurgical Clinic, AOUP "Paolo Giaccone", Post Graduate Residency Program in Neurologic Surgery, Department of Biomedicine Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics, School of Medicine, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
• World Neurosurg. 2022 Aug 1; 164: 253225-32.

AbstractMagnetic resonance imaging is considered the most accurate examination to study the spinal cord. Nevertheless, the use of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) can demonstrate additional key details about spinal cord lesions. We examined the literature to investigate and discuss the role, limitations, and possible evolution as a prognostic tool of DTI in spinal cord injury (SCI). For this systematic literature review, a detailed search was performed using PubMed (2005-2021), Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2016-2021), and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (2016-2021). To be included, studies had to report the use of DTI in SCIs, its clinical relevance, and its use as a prognostic tool. We identified 17 studies comprising 299 patients. The mean age of patients was 41.22 ± 10.62 years. There was a prevalence of males (70.9%) compared with females (29.1%). The main spinal cord tract involved and studied in SCIs was the cervical tract (57.5%), followed by conus terminalis (15.4%) and dorsal tract (13.7%). In all studies based on American Spine Injury Association impairment scale score for neurological assessment, a correlation was found between FA values and American Spine Injury Association impairment scale: patients with complete SCI had a statistically significative lower FA value at the injured site compared with patients with incomplete SCI. Published clinical studies showed promising results for the utility of DTI parameters as noninvasive biomarkers in SCI grade evaluation, remaining an evolving area of further investigation.Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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