Multiparameter characterisation of vertebral osteoporosis with 3-T MR

This study was undertaken to evaluate the diagnostic capabilities of 3-Tesla (T) magnetic resonance (MR) in vertebral osteoporosis.

Thirty subjects (ten healthy controls, ten with osteoporosis but no fracture, ten with osteoporotic vertebral fractures) underwent MR of the lumbar spine. Turbo spin echo (TSE) T1-, T2- and T2- spectral selection attenuated inversion recovery (SPAIR) weighted imaging and spectroscopy for the selective evaluation of water and fat content were performed. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was calculated, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed to create a map of the spatial arrangement of the tissue structures.

Morphological imaging detected recent vertebral fractures. In osteoporotic patients, spectroscopic imaging demonstrated an increase in the saturated fats and a decrease in the ADC, whereas the data provided by DTI demonstrated a bone structure with medium-degree anisotropy.

Osteoporosis is characterised by trabecular thinning, with an increase in the intertrabecular spaces, which are filled with fats. The anisotropic study and the subsequent assessment of colour and vector maps can provide a noninvasive tool for assessing the risk of fracture due to osteoporosis.