CT angiography of cervical anterior spinal artery and anterior radicular artery: preliminary study on technology and its clinical application

Spinal cord ischemia significantly threatens patient health. Cervical spinal cord ischemia is mainly caused by anterior spinal artery (ASA) or anterior radicular artery (ARA) injury. Because of the complex hemodynamics in cervical spinal cord arteries, conventional CT angiography (CTA) does not satisfactorily show the ASA and ARA. In this study, cervical cord CTA was done to 20 patients suspected of cervical spinal cord ischemia with an increased dose of contrast medium and an extra 6-s delay from the peak time determined on the test bolus. The visualization quality of ASA and ARA in the cervical cord CTA was compared with conventional craniocervical CTA using a four-grade visual analogue scale, and injuries to ASA and ARA were evaluated. Our initial experience indicated that cervical cord CTA can efficiently display the anatomical features and comprehensively evaluate injury of the ASA and ARA.