Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.
Eur J Radiol. 2022 Jul;152:110358. doi: 10.1016/j.ejrad.2022.110358. Epub 2022 May 13.
Intervertebral disc degeneration is assessed clinically by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although some quantitative evaluation methods for MRI under special imaging conditions have been reported, they are widely and generally difficult to use. The aim of this study is to determine if intervertebral disc degeneration can be assessed using the ratio of MRI T2 values of the disc to the spinal cord T2 values.
Signal ratio was calculated using the T2 signal intensity of the disc and the spinal cord on MRI under common conditions for a new assessment of disc degeneration. T2-weighted images of 100 patients undergoing MRI twice within a year under different imaging conditions, 1.5 T or less and 3.0 T, were used for the assessment. The T2 signal intensity was measured at the center of the discs at L2-3, L3-4, L4-5, L5-S1 and the spinal cord at T12 level. Signal ratio was calculated using these T2 signal intensity values. The ratio of the difference between the first and second values to the mean of the first and second values was calculated to confirm the equivalence of MRI assessments of disc degeneration in the same patient under different imaging conditions.
The equivalence of values between the first MRI and the second MRI in the signal ratio was significantly higher than that in the T2 signal intensity. In addition, the signal ratio was negatively correlated with age and were significantly associated with Pfirrmann grade.
By using the signal ratio, disc degeneration can be evaluated by MRI even under different imaging conditions.
通过磁共振成像（MRI）对椎间盘退行性变进行临床评估。虽然已经报道了一些在特殊成像条件下用于 MRI 的定量评估方法，但它们广泛且难以普遍使用。本研究旨在确定是否可以使用椎间盘与脊髓 T2 值的 MRI T2 值比来评估椎间盘退变。
在不同成像条件（1.5T 或更低和 3.0T）下，对 100 例患者在一年内两次进行 MRI 检查，使用 MRI 下常见条件下的 T2 信号强度计算信号比，以评估新的椎间盘退变。在 L2-3、L3-4、L4-5、L5-S1 椎间盘中心和 T12 水平脊髓测量 T2 信号强度。使用这些 T2 信号强度值计算信号比。计算第一个和第二个值之间的差异与第一个和第二个值的平均值的比值，以确认在不同成像条件下对同一患者的椎间盘退变进行 MRI 评估的等效性。
信号比中第一次 MRI 和第二次 MRI 之间的值的等效性明显高于 T2 信号强度。此外，信号比与年龄呈负相关，与 Pfirrmann 分级显著相关。
通过使用信号比，即使在不同的成像条件下，也可以通过 MRI 评估椎间盘退变。
