MR neurography in traumatic brachial plexopathy

• MR neurography is the imaging modality of choice in patients who have sustained brachial plexus injury. It is helpful in determining the level and extent of injury.
• The authors have used a Visual Per-operative Scoring system to assess the usefulness of MR neurography in delineating the level and type of the lesion.
• The imaging findings were classified based on the level of injury—root, trunk or cord. These findings were correlated with those seen on surgical exploration. A good correlation was found in the majority (65%) of patients and average correlation (30%) in others.

ObjectivesImaging of the brachial plexus has come a long way and has progressed from plain radiography to CT and CT myelography to MRI. Evolution of MR imaging sequences has enabled good visualization of the small components of the plexus. The purpose of our study was to correlate the results of MR neurography (MRN) in patients with traumatic brachial plexopathy with their operative findings. We wanted to determine the usefulness of MRN and how it influenced surgical planning and outcome.MethodsTwenty patients with features of traumatic brachial plexopathy who were referred to the MRI section of the Department of Radiology between September 2012 and January 2014 and subsequently underwent exploration were included in the study. MR neurography and operative findings were recorded at three levels of the brachial plexus—roots, trunks and cords.ResultsFindings at the level of roots and trunks were noted in 14 patients each and at the level of the cords in 16 patients. 10 patients had involvement at all levels. Axillary nerve involvement as a solitary finding was noted in two patients. These patients were subsequently operated and their studies were assigned a score based on the feedback from the operating surgeons. The MRN study was scored as three (good), two (average) or one (poor) depending on whether the MR findings correlated with operative findings at all three levels, any two levels or at any one level, respectively.ConclusionsMR neurography is an extremely useful modality to image the traumatized brachial plexus. It influences both surgical planning and outcome/prognosis.