Magnetization Transfer Ratio in the Typically Developing Pediatric Spinal Cord: Normative Data and Age Correlation

Area of Science:

• Neuroimaging
• Pediatric Neurology
• Quantitative MRI

Background:

• Magnetization transfer (MT) imaging provides insights into white matter (WM) microstructure.
• Establishing normative data for the pediatric cervical spinal cord (SC) is essential for diagnosing and monitoring diseases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present automated atlas-based MT ratio (MTR) measurements in typically developing pediatric cervical SC.
• To report normative MTR values for the whole cervical cord WM and specific WM tracts.
• To examine MTR variations with age, sex, height, and weight.

Main Methods:

• 3.0 T MRI scans of 55 healthy pediatric participants (33 female, 22 male) were acquired.
• Data were processed using SC Toolbox, segmented, and registered to the PAM50 template.
• MTRs were measured in whole WM and specific tracts (dorsal fasciculus gracilis, dorsal fasciculus cuneatus, LCST), with statistical analysis for age, sex, height, and weight correlations.

Main Results:

• Normative MTR values were obtained across cervical levels with low to moderate coefficients of variation.
• Significant sex differences were observed in whole WM and lateral corticospinal tracts (LCST).
• MTR values positively correlated with age and showed a decreasing trend across cervical levels in whole WM.

Conclusions:

• This study provides normative MTR values for the pediatric cervical SC.
• Understanding MTR variations by sex and age is critical for pediatric neurological assessments.
• These findings establish a baseline for comparing MTR in pediatric SC diseases.