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Clinical impact of magnetic resonance neurography in patients with brachial plexus neuropathies.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:To study the impact of brachial plexus MR neurography (MRN) in the diagnostic thinking and therapeutic management of patients with suspected plexopathy. METHODS:MRN examinations of adult brachial plexuses over a period of 18 months were reviewed. Relevant data collection included-patient demographics, clinical history, pre-imaging diagnostic impression, pre-imaging treatment plan, post-imaging diagnosis, post-imaging treatment plan, surgical notes and electrodiagnostic (ED) results. Impact of imaging on the pre-imaging clinical diagnosis and therapeutic management were classified as no change, mild change or substantial change. RESULTS:Final sample included 121 studies. The common aetiologies included inflammatory in 31 (25.6%) of 121 patients, trauma in 29 (23.9%) of 121 patients and neoplastic in 26 (21.5%) of 121 patients. ED tests were performed in 47 (38.8%) of 121 patients and these showed concordance with MRN findings in 31 (66.0%) of 47 patients. Following MRN, there was change in the pre-imaging clinical impression for 91 (75.2%) of 121 subjects, with a mild change in diagnosis in 57 (47.1%) of 121 patients and a substantial change in 34 (28.0%) of 121 patients. 19 (15.7%) of 121 patients proceeded to therapies that would not have been performed in the same manner without the information obtained from MRN. CONCLUSION:MRN of the brachial plexus significantly impacts clinical decision-making and should be routinely performed in suspected brachial plexopathy. Advances in knowledge: MRN significantly impacts the diagnostic thinking and therapeutic management of patients with suspected brachial plexopathy. MRN not only provides concordant information to ED tests in majority of cases, but also supplements with additional diagnostic data in patients who are ED negative.

SUBMITTER: Fisher S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5124848 | biostudies-other | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Clinical impact of magnetic resonance neurography in patients with brachial plexus neuropathies.

Fisher Stephen S Wadhwa Vibhor V Manthuruthil Christine C Cheng Jonathan J Chhabra Avneesh A

The British journal of radiology 20160919 1067

<h4>Objective</h4>To study the impact of brachial plexus MR neurography (MRN) in the diagnostic thinking and therapeutic management of patients with suspected plexopathy.<h4>Methods</h4>MRN examinations of adult brachial plexuses over a period of 18 months were reviewed. Relevant data collection included-patient demographics, clinical history, pre-imaging diagnostic impression, pre-imaging treatment plan, post-imaging diagnosis, post-imaging treatment plan, surgical notes and electrodiagnostic ( ...[more]

PMID: 27558928

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Project description:Background and purposeBrachial plexus birth injury is caused by traction on the neck during delivery and results in flaccid palsy of an upper extremity commonly involving C5-C6 nerve roots. MR imaging and MR myelography help to assess the anatomic location, extent, and severity of brachial plexus injuries which influence the long-term prognosis along with the surgical decision making. Recently, sonography has been increasingly used as the imaging modality of choice for brachial plexus injuries. The aim of this study was to assess the degree of correlation among brachial plexus sonography, MR imaging, and surgical findings in children with brachial plexus birth injury.Materials and methodsThis prospective study included 55 consecutive patients (girls/boys = 32:23; mean age, 2.1 ± 0.8 months) with brachial plexus birth injury between May 2014 and April 2017. The patients were classified according to the Narakas classification and were followed up at 4- to 6-week intervals for recovery by the Modified Mallet system and sonography without specific preparation for evaluation. All patients had MR imaging under general anesthesia. Nerve root avulsion-retraction, pseudomeningocele, and periscalene soft tissue were accepted brachial plexus injury findings on imaging. Interobserver agreement for MR imaging and the agreement between imaging and surgical findings were estimated using the κ statistic. The diagnostic accuracy of sonography and MR imaging was calculated on the basis of the standard reference, which was the surgical findings.ResultsForty-three patients had pre- and postganglionic injury, 12 had only postganglionic injury findings, and 47% of patients underwent an operation. On sonography, no patients had preganglionic injury, but all patients had postganglionic injury findings. For postganglionic injury, the concordance rates between imaging and the surgical findings ranged from 84% to 100%, and the diagnostic accuracy of sonography and MR imaging was 89% and 100%, respectively. For preganglionic injury, the diagnostic accuracy of MR imaging was 92%. Interobserver agreement and the agreement between imaging and the surgical findings were almost perfect for postganglionic injury (κ = 0.81-1, P < .001).ConclusionsHigh-resolution sonography can identify and locate the postganglionic injury associated with the upper and middle trunks. The ability of sonography to evaluate pre- and the postganglionic injury associated with the lower trunk was quite limited. Sonography can be used as a complement to MR imaging; thus, the duration of the MR imaging examination and the need for sedation can be reduced by sonography.

Dataset Information

Clinical impact of magnetic resonance neurography in patients with brachial plexus neuropathies.

Publications

Clinical impact of magnetic resonance neurography in patients with brachial plexus neuropathies.

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