Magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracical spinal cord and spine with surface coils

We report the results obtained at 0.6 T with the use of surface coils in 77 patients who presented with obvious or suspected thoracic myelopathy. There were 16 patients with primary tumors diagnosed for the first time, 9 patients with residual tumors, 17 with metastatic neoplasms, 13 with hydrosyringomyelia, 5 with vertebral fracture and secondary pathology involving the cord, 5 with thoracic disc protrusions, 2 with multiple sclerosis, 2 with arteriovenous malformations, 2 with cystic arachnoiditis, and 6 with a variety of congenital abnormalities (low tethered cord, intradural lipoma, lipomyelomeningocele). The significantly improved signal to noise ratios provided by surface coils allow high quality thin section imagning which, combined with the high tissue contrast resolution obtainable with suitable pulse sequences, makes MR the preferred initial imaging technique over myelography and CT myelography. In an interesting spectrum of lesions, MR can obviate the need for traditional invasive procedures.