Abstract: To evaluate the diagnosis value of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) in cervical spondylosis without high signal intensity on the compression sites. MethodsTwenty-one healthy volunteers and 42 patients with cervical spondylosis without high signal intensity on the T2WI were subjected to DTI by using a 3.0T MR scanner. Forty-two patients were divided into 2 groups based on having or not having cervical spondylosis symptoms. Patients in group A had symptoms of cervical spondylosis while patients in group B did not. ADC, FA, λ₁, λ₂ and λ₃ values were analyzed with a software package of SPSS 11.0. Fiber tracking was performed on examinees with Functool software of the GE Company. ResultsHigh quality ADC maps, FA maps and fiber tracking of cervical spinal cords were obtained. For healthy subjects, average ADC, FA, λ₁, λ₂ and λ₃ values were (0.78±0.08)×10^-3mm²/s, 0.72±0.03, (1.51±0.15)×10^-3mm²/s, (0.42±0.09)×10^-3mm²/s and (0.41±0.10)×10^-3mm²/s respectively. The FA value of group A was higher than that of group B（P＜0.01）, while values of ADC, FA, λ₁, λ₂ and λ₃ of group B were higher than those of group A（P＜0.05）. The ADC, FA and λ₁ values were not statistically significant between group A and the control group（P＞0.05）, while values of λ₂ and λ₃ of group A were higher than those of the control group（P＜0.05）. The FA value of the control group was higher than that of group B（P＜0.01）, and the ADC, λ₂ and λ₃ values of group B were higher than those of the control group （P＜0.05）, while there were no statistically significant differences between group B and the control group（P＞0.05）. ConclusionThe ADC, FA, λ₁, λ₂ and λ₃ values are sensitive indices for evaluation of the subtle structure of cervical spinal cords which can be quantitatively analyzed by DTI in the early stage of cervical spondylosis.

Key words: Magnetic resonance imaging, Diffusion tensor imaging, Cervical spondylosis