Suzanne E. L. Detiger, Roderick M. Holewijn, Roel J. W. Hoogendoorn, Barend J. van Royen, Marco N. Helder, Ferco H. Berger, Joost P. A. Kuijer, Theo H. Smit


August 2015, Volume 24, Issue 9, pp 1935 - 1943 Original Article Read Full Article 10.1007/s00586-014-3498-1

First Online: 05 August 2014

Purpose

To evaluate intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration and treatments, an objective diagnostic tool is needed. Recently, T2* relaxation time mapping was proposed as a technique to assess early IVD degeneration, yet the correlation with biochemical content and histological features has not been investigated previously. Our objective was to validate T2* mapping for disc degeneration by correlating this technique with accepted parameters of IVD degeneration.

Methods

Mildly and severely degenerated lumbar discs were obtained from an in vivo large animal study; two healthy goat spines were acquired as control. In total, 48 IVDs were analysed using T2-weighted MRI, T2* relaxation time mapping, biochemical assays, macroscopic and histological scoring. Correlations between variables were expressed with Spearman’s rho (ρ) coefficients.

Results

A complete range of degenerative grades were obtained (mean histological grade 2.2, range 0–6). A linear positive correlation was observed between T2* relaxation time and glycosaminoglycan content (ρ = 0.64, p 

Conclusions

T2* mapping is an MRI technique for IVD evaluation which allows for measurements on a continuous scale thus minimising observer bias compared to grading systems. Although limited by a small sample size, this study showed a relatively good and linear correlation between T2* relaxation time and accepted parameters of disc degeneration. This suggests that T2* mapping is a promising tool to assess disc degeneration in clinical practice.


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