Quantification of vertebral bone marrow fat content using 3 tesla MR spectroscopy: Reproducibility, vertebral variation, and applications in osteoporosis
✍ Scribed by Xiaojuan Li; Daniel Kuo; Anne L. Schafer; Anne Porzig; Thomas M. Link; Dennis Black; Ann V. Schwartz
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 2011
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 347 KB
- Volume
- 33
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1053-1807
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✦ Synopsis
Abstract
Purpose:
To determine the reproducibility of proton MR spectroscopy (^1^H‐MRS) for assessing vertebral bone marrow adiposity at 3 Tesla (T); to evaluate variation of marrow adiposity at different vertebral levels; and to demonstrate the feasibility of using ^1^H‐MRS at 3T for evaluating marrow adiposity in subjects with low bone density.
Materials and Methods:
Single voxel MRS was acquired at vertebral body L1 to L4 at 3T in 51 postmenopausal females including healthy controls (n = 13) and patients with osteoporosis/osteopenia (n = 38). Marrow fat contents were compared between vertebral levels and between groups using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Six subjects were scanned twice to evaluate technique reproducibility.
Results:
The average coefficient of variation of vertebral marrow fat content quantification was 1.7%. Marrow fat content significantly increased from L1 to L4. The average fat content was significantly elevated in patients with osteoporosis/osteopenia compared with controls, adjusted for age and body mass index (P < 0.05).
Conclusion:
In vivo MRS at high field strength provides reliable measurement of marrow adiposity with excellent reproducibility and can be a valuable tool for providing complementary information on bone quality and potentially also fracture risk. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2011;33:974–979. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.