Correct diagnosis of spinal cord disease in childhood is often delayed, resulting in irreversible neurologic deficits. A major reason for this delay is the lack of a reliable means to noninvasively visualize the spinal cord. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) should be useful in the evaluation of diseases of the spinal cord. A 1.5 Tesla MRI unit with a surface coil was used to study 41 children, including eight patients with intrinsic spinal cord lesions, eight patients with masses compressing the cord, 12 patients with congenital anomalies of the cord or surrounding bony structures, three patients with syrinxes, and three patients with vertebral body abnormalities. Intrinsic lesions of the cord were well seen in all cases as intrinsic irregularly widened, abnormally intense cord regions. MRI was helpful in following the course of disease in patients with primary spinal cord tumors. Areas of tumor were separable from syrinx cavities. Extrinsic lesions compressing the cord and vertebral body disease were also well visualized. Congenital anomalies of the spinal cord, including tethering and lipomatous tissue, were better seen on MRI than by any other radiographic technique. MRI is an excellent noninvasive "screening" technique for children with suspected spinal cord disease and may be the only study needed in many patients with congenital spinal cord anomalies. It is also an excellent means to diagnose and follow patients with other forms of intra- and extraspinal pathology.
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机译：儿童期脊髓疾病的正确诊断通常会延迟，导致不可逆的神经功能缺损。这种延迟的主要原因是缺乏可靠的方法来无创地观察脊髓。磁共振成像（MRI）在评估脊髓疾病方面应该很有用。使用一个带有表面线圈的1.5 Tesla MRI装置研究了41名儿童，其中包括8名脊髓固有病变的患者，8名压迫脐带的患者，12名先天性脊髓或周围骨结构异常的患者，3例syrinxes的患者，三例椎体异常。在所有情况下都可以看到脐带的内在病变，因为内在的不规则增宽，异常强烈的脐带区域。 MRI有助于追踪原发性脊髓肿瘤患者的病程。肿瘤区域可与syrinx腔分开。压缩脐带和椎体疾病的外在病变也很清晰可见。 MRI可以比其他放射线照相技术更好地观察到先天性脊髓异常，包括栓系和脂肪瘤组织。 MRI是用于怀疑患有脊髓疾病的儿童的一种出色的非侵入性“筛查”技术，可能是许多先天性脊髓异常患者中唯一需要的研究。这也是诊断和跟踪患有其他形式的脊柱内和脊柱外病理的患者的极好方法。
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