MR Manifestations of Vertebral Artery Injuries in Cervical Spine Trauma

Abstract

PURPOSE: To assess the diagnostic efficacy of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the detection of a vertebralartery injury occurring from major cervical spine trauma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Conventional MR findings of 63patients and 63 control subjects were compared to detect a possible change in the vertebral arteries resulted fromtrauma. Plain films, CT and clinical records were also reviewed to correlate the degree of cervical spine injurywith vascular change. RESULTS: Nine cases of absent flow signals in vessel lumen were observed in eight patientsand one was observed in the control group. Patients more frequently demonstrated other abnormalities such asintraluminal linear signals (n=3) or focal luminal narrowing (n=9) but there was no statistical significance. There was a close relationship between degree of cord damage and occlusion of the vertebral artery. CONCLUSION: Conventional MR imaging is useful in the detection of vertebral artery occlusion resulting from cervical spinetrauma.