The relationship between the functional abilities of patients with cervical spinal cord injury and the severity of damage revealed by MR imaging.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The appearance of the damaged spinal cord after injury correlates with initial neurologic deficit, as determined by the American Spinal Injury Association grade and manual muscle test score, as well as with recovery, as assessed by manual muscle test scores. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the presence of spinal cord hemorrhage and the size and location of spinal cord edema on MR images is predictive of functional recovery in survivors of cervical spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS The degree of damage to the cervical spinal cord was measured on the MR images of 49 patients who underwent imaging within 72 hours of sustaining SCI. The effects of hemorrhage and length/location of edema on changes in the value of the motor scale of the functional independence measure (FIM) were assessed on admission to and discharge from rehabilitation. RESULTS Patients without spinal cord hemorrhage had significant improvement in self-care and mobility scores compared with patients with hemorrhage. There was no significant effect of spinal cord hemorrhage on changes in locomotion and sphincter control scores. The rostral limit of edema positively correlated with admission and discharge self-care scores and with admission mobility and locomotion scores. Edema length had a negative correlation with all FIM scales at admission and discharge. CONCLUSION The imaging characteristics of cervical SCI (hemorrhage and edema) are related to levels of physical recovery as determined by the FIM scale. Imaging factors that correlate with poor functional recovery are hemorrhage, long segments of edema, and high cervical locations.