Correlation of magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers (tissue bridges) with neurological recovery following traumatic spinal cord injury

Table 9 Regression analysis between various clinical measures at 6 months and magnetic resonance parameters at 1 month

Clinical measure at 6 months; dependent variable	MR parameter at 1 month; independent variable	R	R square	P value1	Standardized regression coefficients	95% confidence interval
						Lower bound	Upper bound
MIS upper limb	MSCC	0.454	0.206	0.001	-1.442	-2.291	-0.592
	MCC	0.135	0.018	0.365	-0.232	-0.744	0.279
	Lesion length (mm)	0.098	0.010	0.513	0.021	-0.043	0.084
	Lesion width (mm)	0.030	0.001	0.840	0.099	-0.879	1.076
	Lesion area (mm2)	0.217	0.047	0.142	0.015	-0.005	0.035
	Total width of tissue bridges	0.301	0.090	0.040	3.755	0.179	7.332
	Midsagittal tissue bridge ratios	0.342	0.117	0.019	25.095	4.408	45.781
MIS lower limb	MSCC	0.194	0.038	0.192	-1.459	-3.676	0.759
	MCC	0.144	0.021	0.333	-0.588	-1.798	0.622
	Lesion length (mm)	0.242	0.059	0.101	-0.122	-0.268	0.025
	Lesion width (mm)	0.368	0.135	0.011	-2.841	-4.997	-0.685
	Lesion area (mm2)	0.286	0.082	0.051	-0.047	-0.094	0.000
	Total width of tissue bridges	0.209	0.044	0.159	6.182	-2.512	14.876
	Midsagittal tissue bridge ratios	0.146	0.021	0.328	25.355	-26.281	76.991
Total (MIS)	MSCC	0.338	0.114	0.020	-2.900	-5.326	-0.475
	MCC	0.177	0.031	0.235	-0.820	-2.193	0.552
	Lesion length (mm)	0.176	0.031	0.237	-0.101	-0.271	0.069
	Lesion width (mm)	0.311	0.097	0.033	-2.743	-5.255	-0.231
	Lesion area (mm2)	0.171	0.029	0.251	-0.032	-0.087	0.023
	Total width of tissue bridges	0.294	0.087	0.045	9.937	0.250	19.625
	Midsagittal tissue bridge ratios	0.255	0.065	0.084	50.450	-7.101	108.000
SIS light touch	MSCC	0.359	0.129	0.013	-3.543	-6.312	-0.775
	MCC	0.402	0.162	0.005	-2.149	-3.618	-0.679
	Lesion length (mm)	0.145	0.021	0.330	-0.096	-0.292	0.100
	Lesion width (mm)	0.341	0.116	0.019	-3.458	-6.318	-0.598
	Lesion area (mm2)	0.337	0.114	0.021	-0.072	-0.133	-0.012
	Total width of tissue bridges	0.077	0.006	0.608	2.985	-8.646	14.616
	Midsagittal tissue bridge ratios	0.069	0.005	0.645	15.748	-52.577	84.073
SIS pin prick	MSCC	0.353	0.125	0.015	-3.427	-6.155	-0.700
	MCC	0.333	0.111	0.022	-1.748	-3.236	-0.261
	Lesion length (mm)	0.086	0.007	0.565	-0.056	-0.250	0.138
	Lesion width (mm)	0.322	0.104	0.027	-3.206	-6.037	-0.375
	Lesion area (mm2)	0.264	0.070	0.073	-0.056	-0.117	0.005
	Total width of tissue bridges	0.064	0.004	0.670	2.434	-9.008	13.876
	Midsagittal tissue bridge ratios	0.084	0.007	0.576	18.770	-48.307	85.846
Total SIS	MSCC	0.359	0.129	0.013	-6.971	-12.413	-1.528
	MCC	0.371	0.137	0.010	-3.897	-6.828	-0.966
	Lesion length (mm)	0.117	0.014	0.434	-0.152	-0.539	0.235
	Lesion width (mm)	0.334	0.112	0.022	-6.664	-12.301	-1.027
	Lesion area (mm2)	0.303	0.092	0.038	-0.128	-0.248	-0.007
	Total width of tissue bridges	0.071	0.005	0.636	5.419	-17.459	28.297
	Midsagittal tissue bridge ratios	0.077	0.006	0.607	34.518	-99.736	168.773

¹Spearman's rho correlation.

n = 47 at all-time points for all variables. MR: Magnetic resonance; MIS: Motor index score; SIS: Sensory index score; MSCC: Maximum spinal cord compression; MCC: Maximum canal compromise.