Abstract #1695

Jung E, Tung G, Dyke J, Lee J, Ciombor D, Aaron R

Bone marrow edema (BME) has been associated with such diseases as osteoarthritis, traumatic injury, and osteonecrosis. In many cases, BME is associated with pain; however, the pathophysiology of BME is not known. Studies have demonstrated increased intraosseous pressure in BME that could lead to diminished blood flow and hypoxia, altered osteoblastic cytokine expression, and osteocyte necrosis. The pharmacokinetic modeling of bone perfusion using dynamic contrast enhanced-MR imaging (DCE-MRI) has been used to assess various bone pathology. In this study, we investigate perfusion kinetics of BME using DCE-MRI in a Dunkin-Hartley guinea pig model of osteoarthritis and in human subjects with BME.