Radiation myelopathy of the cervical spinal cord: MR findings.

Radiation myelopathy is one of the most serious complications of radiation therapy, with over 300 cases reported since its discovery in the 1930s (1). Diffuse cord enlargement on myelography has been described as an occasional and nonspecific finding (2], although the spinal cord may be normal in size. We describe the MR findings in a case of radiation myelitis in which the diagnosis was suggested preoperatively by the combination of MR and clinical findings even though myelographic and T1-weighted MR imaging results were normal (cord size and contour were normal). To our knowledge, this is the first MR demonstration of a histologically confirmed case of radiation myelopathy, and the first demonstrating contrast enhancement.