The evolution of neuroimaging of spinal cord injury patients over the last decade

A review is presented concerning the development of new neuroimaging techniques in the last decade which have improved the diagnostic exploration of patients with spinal cord injuries, including studies of possible sequelae. A number of technical developments occurred in the 1980s, which have broadened the diagnostic capabilities of neuroimaging and made its investigative techniques more precise and less invasive. In a summarized way the new or upgraded modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging and angiography, computed tomography and ultrasound, are considered here with regard to the effect that they have had on the clinical management of patients with a traumatized spinal cord.