MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING IN EVALUATION OF NON-TRAUMATIC AND NON-NEOPLASTIC CASES OF CERVICAL MYELOPATHY- A STUDY...

Corresponding Author:
Dr. Bhaskar Bhattacharyya,
HA-150, Sector-3, Salt Lake City,
Kolkata-700097,
West Bengal, India.
E-mail: bhas_kar1974@yahoo.co.in

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND

Cervical myelopathy is a common cause of major neurological disability. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features and identification of the possible causes of cervical myelopathy in patients after ruling out traumatic and neoplastic lesions.

METHODS

Patients of either sex, above the age of 12 years who were clinically diagnosed as nontraumatic cervical myelopathy were included in this study conducted in a tertiary centre of West Bengal over a period of 18 months. Later, we also excluded patients having neoplastic lesions detected by MRI. Following clinical examinations, selected patients underwent MRI of cervical spine in a 3 Tesla MR scanner to determine the aetiology of cervical myelopathy and to assess the morphology, location and extent of the causative lesion. Standard MRI sequences were used in different planes. Post contrast study was performed only in selected cases. This was an institution based descriptive study.

RESULTS

Forty-three patients of 14 to 80 years of age with a mean age of 48.5 years had nontraumatic and nonneoplastic causes contributing to cervical myelopathy. Nearly two-thirds of these patients were males and rest were females. Of the various nontraumatic and nonneoplastic causes, cervical spondylosis was by far the most common aetiology of cervical myelopathy, seen in nearly 58% of such patients.

CONCLUSIONS

We concluded that MRI was useful in lesion characterisation and depicting various causes of cervical myelopathy, thereby playing a very important role in management of these patients.

KEY WORDS

Cervical Myelopathy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging