Effectiveness of T2* MRI in Predicting Prognosis in Patients With Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy (CSM)

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM), an age-related degenerative disease that is common worldwide, is mainly caused by compression of the spinal cord and may possibly lead to disability. Surgery to reduce direct compression of the spinal cord might alleviate disease progression; due to individual differences, some patients do not benefit from surgery. Prognostic prediction is important because it affects subsequent treatment decision making. Currently, prognosis is generally based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a detailed macrostructural evaluation of the spinal cord. Unfortunately, the use of conventional MRI indicators (e.g., increased intensity signal [ISI]) to predict CSM outcomes has been controversial because of their subjectivity or the insufficient information contained therein.

A new biomarker, T2* MRI gray matter to white matter signal intensity ratio (GM/WM), is associated with demyelination and gliosis. Previous studies have shown that patients with CSM can have T2* MRI WM / GM changes at the early stage of disease, and the WM / GM value is increased, which is significantly higher than that of normal people, and is related to the spinal cord function score. However, the correlation between this index and long-term prognosis remains to be studied.