Wei Zhao, Lombardi Alecio F, Lee Roland R, Wallace Mark, Masuda Koichi, Chang Eric Y, Du Jiang, Bydder Graeme M, Yang Wenhui, Ma Ya-Jun
Department of Radiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Quant Imaging Med Surg. 2022 Jan;12(1):269-280. doi: 10.21037/qims-21-308.
T has been extensively reported as a sensitive biomarker of biochemical changes in the nucleus pulposus (NP) and annulus fibrosis of intervertebral discs (IVDs). However, no T study of cartilaginous endplates (CEPs) has yet been reported because the relatively long echo times (TEs) of conventional clinical T sequences cannot effectively capture the fast-decaying magnetic resonance signals of CEPs, which have very short T/T*s. This can be overcome by using ultrashort echo time (UTE) T acquisitions.
Seventeen subjects underwent UTE with adiabatic T preparation (UTE-Adiab-T) and T-weighted fast spin echo imaging of their lumbar spines. Each IVD was manually segmented into seven regions (i.e., outer anterior annulus fibrosis, inner anterior annulus fibrosis, outer posterior annulus fibrosis, inner posterior annulus fibrosis, superior CEP, inferior CEP, and NP). T values of these sub-regions were correlated with IVD modified Pfirrmann grades and subjects' ages. In addition, T values were compared in subjects with and without low back pain (LBP).
Correlations of T values of the outer posterior annulus fibrosis, superior CEP, inferior CEP, and NP with modified Pfirrmann grades were significant (P<0.05) with R values of 0.51, 0.36, 0.38, and -0.94, respectively. Correlations of T values of the outer anterior annulus fibrosis, outer posterior annulus fibrosis, and NP with ages were significant with R equal to 0.52, 0.71, and -0.76, respectively. T differences of the outer posterior annulus fibrosis, inferior CEP, and NP between the subjects with and without LBP were significant (P=0.005, 0.020, and 0.000, respectively).
The UTE-Adiab-T sequence can quantify T of whole IVDs including CEPs. This is an advance, and of value for comprehensive assessment of IVD degeneration.
T已被广泛报道为椎间盘（IVD）髓核（NP）和纤维环生化变化的敏感生物标志物。然而，尚未有关于软骨终板（CEP）的T研究报道，因为传统临床T序列相对较长的回波时间（TE）无法有效捕捉具有非常短T/T*值的CEP的快速衰减磁共振信号。这可以通过使用超短回波时间（UTE）T采集来克服。
17名受试者对其腰椎进行了绝热T准备的UTE（UTE-Adiab-T）和T加权快速自旋回波成像。每个IVD被手动分割为七个区域（即外侧前纤维环、内侧前纤维环、外侧后纤维环、内侧后纤维环、上CEP、下CEP和NP）。这些子区域的T值与IVD改良Pfirrmann分级和受试者年龄相关。此外，比较了有和没有腰痛（LBP）的受试者的T值。
外侧后纤维环、上CEP、下CEP和NP的T值与改良Pfirrmann分级的相关性显著（P<0.05），R值分别为0.51、0.36、0.38和-0.94。外侧前纤维环、外侧后纤维环和NP的T值与年龄的相关性显著，R分别等于0.52、0.71和-0.76。有和没有LBP的受试者之间，外侧后纤维环、下CEP和NP的T差异显著（分别为P = 0.005、0.020和0.000）。
UTE-Adiab-T序列可以量化包括CEP在内的整个IVD的T。这是一项进展，对IVD退变的综合评估具有价值。
