Systemic bone marrow disorders: characterization with proton chemical shift imaging

In a prospective clinical study, 26 patients (22 with malignant lymphoma and 4 with myelofibrosis) and 9 healthy volunteers were examined by conventional magnetic resonance and proton chemical shift imaging (CSI; modified Dixon method). On the basis of the CSI data, a quantitative evaluation of the relative fat and water signal fractions in regions of interest of the femur, pelvis, and spine was performed. In 16 of 17 patients with biopsy-proven bone marrow disorders, CSI revealed a significant reduction in the fat fraction of the bone marrow relative to that of normal volunteers. The visual assessment could detect only 14 of the 17 pathological cases.