• Jiantao Yang, Bengang Qin, Guo Fu, Ping Li, Qingtang Zhu, Xiaolin Liu, Jiakai Zhu, and Liqiang Gu.
• Department of Microsurgery and Orthopedic Trauma, The First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
• J Reconstr Microsurg. 2014 Mar 1; 30 (3): 171-8.

AbstractThe authors described a modified pathological classification (PC) of brachial plexus injury (BPI) and its magnetic resonance (MR) imaging characteristics. The reliability and diagnostic accuracy of MR imaging for detecting nerve injury was discussed. Between 2006 and 2010, 86 patients with BPI were managed surgically in our department. Their preoperative MR images and surgical findings were analyzed retrospectively. The PC of BPI was classified into five types: (I) nerve root injury in continuity (including Sunderland grade I-IV injury); (II) postganglionic spinal nerve rupture with or without proximal stump; (III) preganglionic root injury (visible); (IV) preganglionic nerve root injury and postganglionic spinal nerves injury; (V) preganglionic root injury (invisible). The main MR imaging characteristics of BPI included traumatic meningocele, displacement of spinal cord, the absence of nerve root, "Black line" sign, nerve root/trunk injury in continuity, and thickening and edema of nerve root. The accuracy of MR imaging for detecting C5, C6, C7, C8, and T1 nerve roots injury were 93.3, 95.2, 92.3, 84, and 74.4%, respectively. The modified PC provides a detailed description of nerve root injury in BPI, and MR imaging technique is a reliable method for detecting nerve root injury. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

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