• Xiao-Ping Zhong, Ye-Xi Chen, Zhi-Yang Li, Zhi-Wei Shen, Kang-Mei Kong, and Ren-Hua Wu.
• Department of Surgery, 2nd Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, 515041, Guangdong, China.
• Eur Spine J. 2017 Jan 1; 26 (1): 71-77.

PurposeTo evaluate the spatial distribution and signal intensity changes following spinal cord activation in patients with spinal cord injury.MethodsThis study used spinal functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) based on signal enhancement by extra-vascular water protons (SEEP) to assess elicited responses during subcutaneous electrical stimulation at the right elbow and right thumb in the cervical spinal cord.ResultsSeven healthy volunteers and seven patients with cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) were included in this study. Significant functional activation was observed mainly in the right side of the spinal cord at the level of the C5-C6 cervical vertebra in both the axial and sagittal planes. A higher percentage of signal changes (4.66 ± 2.08 % in injured subjects vs. 2.78 ± 1.66 % in normal) and more average activation voxels (4.69 ± 2.59 in injured subjects vs. 2.56 ± 1.13 in normal subject) in axial plane at the C5-C6 cervical vertebra with a statistically significant difference. The same trends were observed in the sagittal plane with higher percentage of signal changes and more average activation voxels, though no statistically significant difference compared with the control group.ConclusionsSpinal SEEP fMRI is a powerful noninvasive method for the study of local neuronal activation in the human spinal cord, which may be of clinical value for evaluating the effectiveness of interventions aimed at promoting recovery of function using electrical stimulation.

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