Goetz Hannes
Welsch1,2, David Stelzeneder1, Friedrich Frank Hennig2,
Klaus Friedrich1, Georg Scheurecker1, Tatjana
Paternostro-Sluga3, Siegfried Trattnig1, Tallal Charles
Mamisch4
1MR Center, Department of Radiology,
Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; 2Department of
Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Erlangen,
Germany; 3Department of Physical Therapy, Medical University of
Vienna, Vienna, Austria; 4Department of Orthopaedic Surgery,
University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Quantitative
T2 provides information about the interaction of water molecules and the collagen-network
within the intervertebral disc(IVD). T2*-mapping may theoretically provide
comparable information of the IVD ultrastructure but with the additional
benefit of three-dimensional-acquisition capability together with high signal
and high spatial resolution in a short scan-time. Aim of the study was to
compare and correlate T2- and T2*-relaxation in patients suffering from low
back pain. Using T2 as well as T2*-relaxation mapping, all grades of IVD
degeneration can be quantified and distinguished. Besides the established T2
methodology, T2* provides a fast and stable tool in the evaluation of IVDs.