Abstract

MUNDUTEGUY, Martín; GARCES, Javier; ROMERO, Carlos  and  MAZZUCCO, Juan. SCIWORA (Spinal Cord Injury Without Radiographic Abnormality): Importance of MRI for diagnosis. Rev. argent. radiol. [online]. 2011, vol.75, n.1, pp.19-21. ISSN 1852-9992.

The aim of this manuscript is to clarify the acronym SCIWORA among the medical community, and to highlight the importance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a sensitive tool for the diagnosis of this condition. SCIWORA is characterized by spinal cord injury, with normal radiology. It can only be diagnosed by MRI, although there is some controversy on this concept. It only occurs in children under 8 years of age, with an incidence ranging between 3.3% and 32%, which depends on age of the patient, degree of complexity of the health center and especially the access to MRI. Traumatic spinal cord injuries are rarely found in children, and account for 5% of all spinal lesions. In children, the presence of SCIWORA is associated with the anatomical and biomechanical characteristics of the spine.

Keywords : Magnetic Resonance Imaging; SCIWORA; Traumatic spinal injuries.

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