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Early chronic lymphocytic leukemia: prognostic value of quantitative bone marrow MR imaging findings and correlation
F E Lecouvet1, B C Vande Berg, L Michaux
1Department of Radiology, St Luc University Hospital, University of Louvain, Brussels, Belgium.
Purpose:
To determine the frequency of abnormal findings from quantitative bone marrow magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in patients with early-stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia, to correlate these findings with clinical parameters, and to compare spontaneous outcome in patients with normal or abnormal MR imaging findings.
Materials And Methods:
In 21 patients with Binet stage A (Rai stage 0-I) disease, bulk T1 values of the vertebral bone marrow were determined and correlated with initial clinical, laboratory, histopathologic, and cytogenetic findings and with treatment-free survival.
Results:
Bulk T1 values were normal (< 600 msec) in 14 patients and prolonged in seven. Patients with increased T1 had significantly higher blood (P = .017) and bone marrow (P = .015) lymphocytosis. None of the 14 patients with normal T1 values required specific therapy after a median follow-up of 13 months. Of the seven patients with abnormal T1 values, five required treatment after progression to Binet stage B or C disease at a median of 10 months.
Conclusion:
In patients with abnormal quantitative MR imaging findings, treatment-free survival appears to be significantly shorter (P < .001) than in patients with normal MR imaging findings.