Magnetic resonance spectroscopic and relaxometric determination of bone marrow changes in anorexia nervosa

The objective of this study was to assess and quantify bone marrow changes in patients with anorexia nervosa using 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy and relaxometry.

The bone marrow fat fraction and the longitudinal and transverse relaxation times (T1 and T2, respectively) of water were measured in the lumbar and femoral marrow of 20 patients with anorexia nervosa and 19 healthy control subjects.

Patients with anorexia nervosa showed significant hyperhydration and reduction of the fat fraction in their bone marrow, predominantly in the proximal femur. These changes were associated with hematological abnormalities. In a retest of seven patients after psychotherapy and gain of weight, the pathological changes in marrow proved to be largely reversible in correlation with the increase in body mass index.

Fat depletion and excess of tissue water in the bone marrow in anorexia nervosa can be quantified by 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy and relaxometry. The distribution of the pathological changes in the lumbar and femoral marrow follows the pattern of normal bone marrow conversion from hematopoietic to cellular during childhood.