Simultaneous MR neurography and apparent T2 mapping in brachial plexus: Evaluation of patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy

Publication date: Available online 25 September 2018

Source: Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Author(s): Akio Hiwatashi, Osamu Togao, Koji Yamashita, Kazufumi Kikuchi, Daichi Momosaka, Hiroshi Nakatake, Ryo Yamasaki, Hidenori Ogata, Masami Yoneyama, Jun-ichi Kira, Hiroshi Honda

Abstract

Purpose

MR neurography is known to be useful to evaluate nerve pathology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of simultaneous apparent T2 mapping and neurography with nerve-sheath signal increased with inked rest-tissue rapid acquisition of relaxation enhancement imaging (SHINKEI) to distinguish patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) from healthy subjects.

Materials and methods

This retrospective study included 13 patients with CIDP and five healthy subjects from 2015 to 2017. The T2 relaxation time and the size of the cervical ganglia and roots of the brachial plexus were measured. Statistical analyses were performed with the Mann-Whitney U test and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis.

Results

The T2 relaxation times of the ganglia and roots were longer in patients with CIDP (119.31 ± 35.53 msec and 111.15 ± 33.82 msec) than in healthy subjects (101.42 ± 26.42 msec and 85.29 ± 13.22 msec, P = 0.0007 and P < 0.0001, respectively). The sizes of the ganglia and the roots were larger in patients with CIDP (6.25 ± 1.56 mm and 4.37 ± 1.71 mm) than in healthy subjects (5.59 ± 1.08 mm and 3.50 ± 0.62 mm, P = 0.0114 and P = 0.0014, respectively). ROC analysis revealed that T2 relaxation time of the roots was best at distinguishing CIDP patients from healthy subjects (the area under the curve = 0.748).

Conclusion

Patients with CIDP could be distinguished from healthy subjects using simultaneous apparent T2 mapping and neurography with SHINKEI.

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