Sieron Dominik, Drakopoulos Dionysios, Loebelenz Laura I, Schroeder Christophe, Ebner Lukas, Obmann Verena C, Huber Adrian T, Christe Andreas
Department of Radiology, Division City and County Hospitals, INSELGROUP, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Department of Radiology, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Acta Radiol Open. 2020 Jan 24;9(1):2058460120901517. doi: 10.1177/2058460120901517. eCollection 2020 Jan.
The hypothesis was that the fat-dependent T1 signal intensity in vertebral bodies increases with age due to red-yellow marrow conversion.
To analyze the increasing fatty conversion of red bone marrow with age.
A continuous sample of 524 patients (age range 2-96 years) with normal lumbar spine MRIs (T11-L5) was retrospectively selected in order to get a representative sample from our 1.5-T and 3-T MRI units (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). Four radiologists read the images independently. Absolute T1 signal intensities were measured in the lower vertebral bodies and standardized by dividing their value by the signal of the subcutaneous fat on lumbar and sacral level.
The standardized T1 signal correlated significantly with patients' age at the 1.5-T unit, with the best correlation demonstrated by thoracic vertebra T11, followed by lumbar vertebra L1, with correlation coefficients (R) of 0.64 (95% CI 0.53-0.72, < 0.0001) and 0.49 (95% CI 0.38-0.59, < 0.0001), respectively. For women and men, the R values were similar in thoracic vertebra T11 at 0.62 (95% CI 0.49-0.72) and 0.64 (95% CI 0.44-0.77), respectively. The vertebral signal correlated significantly better with age in the 1.5-T compared to the 3-T unit on all vertebral levels: the best R value of the 3-T unit was only 0.20 (95% CI 0.09-0.30, < 0.0001). Our study showed an average increase of the relative T1 signal in T11 of 10% per decade.
T1 fat signal ratio increases with age in the vertebral bodies, which could help estimating the age of a person. Best age correlation was found when measuring T1 signal in T11, standardized by the sacral subcutaneous fat signal and using a 1.5-T MRI.
研究假设是由于红骨髓向黄骨髓转化，椎体中脂肪依赖的T1信号强度会随年龄增长而增加。
分析红骨髓随年龄增长而增加的脂肪转化情况。
回顾性选取524例腰椎MRI（T11-L5）正常患者（年龄范围2-96岁）的连续样本，以便从我们的1.5-T和3-T MRI设备（西门子，德国埃尔朗根）中获取具有代表性的样本。四名放射科医生独立阅片。在椎体下部测量绝对T1信号强度，并通过将其值除以腰骶部皮下脂肪的信号进行标准化。
在1.5-T设备上，标准化T1信号与患者年龄显著相关，胸椎T11相关性最佳，其次是腰椎L1，相关系数（R）分别为0.64（95%CI 0.53-0.72，<0.0001）和0.49（95%CI 0.38-0.59，<0.0001）。对于女性和男性，胸椎T11的R值相似，分别为0.62（95%CI 0.49-0.72）和0.64（95%CI 0.44-0.77）。在所有椎体水平上，与3-T设备相比，1.5-T设备上椎体信号与年龄的相关性明显更好：3-T设备的最佳R值仅为0.20（95%CI 0.09-0.30，<0.0001）。我们的研究表明，T11中相对T1信号每十年平均增加10%。
椎体中T1脂肪信号比随年龄增长而增加，这有助于估计一个人的年龄。在测量T11的T1信号时，以骶部皮下脂肪信号进行标准化并使用1.5-T MRI时，发现与年龄的相关性最佳。
