Recognising serous atrophy of bone marrow: a review of imaging findings

Serous atrophy of bone marrow (SABM) is a rare bone marrow disorder associated with severe illness and poor nutritional state. This results in characteristic MRI signal alterations of the bone marrow and surrounding soft tissues. The unusual imaging features are often misinterpreted as technical error or erroneously attributed to underlying malignancy, resulting in unnecessary additional imaging. Therefore, it is important to differentiate SABM from technical failures and other infiltrating marrow processes. This review provides an overview of the imaging characteristics of SABM and associated imaging pitfalls, based on examples from our own practice.