Assessing the rotation of the spinal cord in idiopathic scoliosis: a preliminary report of MRI feasibility.

Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) quantification of the rotation of the spinal cord in patients with thoracic idiopathic scoliosis could also be used to detect different spinal cord rotational patterns.

Methods: Ten patients with a thoracic or thoracolumbar scoliosis had axial T2-weighted MRI. The rotation of the spinal cord and vertebra were measured. The rotational data of the spinal cord and vertebra was compared to other collated data using non-parametric tests.

Results: The vertebral tile was measured from 3 degrees to 32 degrees and the spinal cord tilt was measured from 3 degrees to 39 degrees. The spinal cord tilt was statistically correlated with the Cobb angle and the antero-posterior or and transverse diameter of the spinal cord.

Conclusion: We showed that, even in case of moderate curve with very limited angular values and vertebral rotation, a significant spinal cord rotation occurred. However, our findings are very limited to discuss some hypothesis about scoliosis pathogeny or progression mechanism.