[2] If the MRI is abnormal surgery to hold the neck still may be carried out [2] Typically people should avoid further high risk activities for the next six months.
The prognostic value of intra- and extra-medullary MRI findings is subject of ongoing research in the field of SCIWORA.
The application of MRI plays a significant role in the early diagnosis and treatment of SCIWORA in children and adults.
Recently, systematic reviews on SCIWORA described the clinical and radiological patterns and correlations with neurological outcome.
[7][8] Boese and Lechler proposed an MRI-based classification for SCIWORA which correlated with the neurological outcome:[7] The acronym SCIWORA was coined by Pang and Wilderer in 1982 [9] This first description of spinal cord injuries with clinical-radiological mismatch was followed by a large number of case reports and case series.
[11] SCI in adults could be due to instability of vertebral ligaments or a herniation of a disk or a hematoma around the spinal cord that presses on it—none of which would show up on X-rays.
Some authors used the term spinal cord injury without radiographic evidence of trauma (SCIWORET) to describe these cases.
The term SCIWOCTET (spinal cord injury without CT evidence of trauma) was introduced by Martinez-Perez.
[1] Finally, the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allowed for even better depiction of the spine and soft tissue abnormalities in particular.