Usefulness of Simultaneous Magnetic Resonance Neurography and Apparent T2 Mapping for the Diagnosis of Cervical Radiculopathy

Study Design Retrospective observational study. Purpose We investigated the correlation between T2 relaxation times and clinical symptoms in patients with cervical radiculopathy caused by cervical disk herniation. Overview of Literature There are currently no imaging modalities that can assess the affected cervical nerve roots quantitatively. Methods A total of 14 patients with unilateral radicular symptoms and five healthy subjects were subjected to simultaneous apparent T2 mapping and neurography with nerve-sheath signal increased with inked rest-tissue rapid acquisition of relaxation enhancement signaling (SHINKEI-Quant) using a 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging. The Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score for neck pain and upper arm pain was used to evaluate clinical symptoms. T2 relaxation times of the cervical dorsal root ganglia of the brachial plexus were measured bilaterally from C4 to C8 in patients with radicular symptoms and from C5 to C8 in healthy controls. The T2 ratio was calculated as the affected side to unaffected side. Results When comparing nerve roots bilaterally at each spinal level, no significant differences in T2 relaxation times were found between patients and healthy subjects. However, T2 relaxation times of nerve roots in the patients with unilateral radicular symptoms were significantly prolonged on the involved side compared with the uninvolved side (p