MRI Diffusion Tensor Tractography to Track and Monitor Peripheral Nerve Recovery after Severe Crush or Cut/Repair Nerve Injury
Abstract
Nerve regeneration after an injury should occur in a timely fashion for function to be restored. Failed repairs can take up to a year to detect for proximal injuries precluding successful re-operation. Methods: Sprague-Dawley rats were utilized to assess recovery after nerve injury and MRI analysis was compared to behavioral and histologic measures. Using preclinical studies to guide imaging, human subjects were recruited and scanned following TPNI and subsequent repair. Results: DTI can non-invasive differentiate crush and cut injuries, and normalized indices do so as early as 4 weeks. Furthermore, high resolution DTT may provide viable biomarkers of recovery as early as 1 week. DTI was also able to distinguish TPNI from more minor trauma. The use of DTI ellipsoids analysis can be used to distinguish injury severity. Conclusions: DTI application to TPNI provides a non-invasive method of determining if patient recovery is progressing as expected or if revisional surgery is required. This could lead to earlier intervention and improved outcomes for patients with devastating nerve injuries. In fact, in our human dataset, alack of improvement was noted in one patient, followed by rapid recovery post revision surgery. This supported the findings made in the MRI analysis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1146179
Entities
People
- Wesley P Thayer
Organizations
- Vanderbilt University Medical Center