Abstract #0422

Association between Spinal Disc Degeneration & Deficits in Endplate Perfusion

L. Tugan Muftuler¹, Yen K. Hong², Hon J. Yu¹, Vance O. Gardner³, Anton N. Hasso⁴, Nitin N. Bhatia⁵

¹Center for Functional Onco-imaging, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA; ²Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, University of California; ³Orthopaedic Education & Research Institute, Orange, CA; ⁴Radiological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, CA; ⁵Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California, Irvine, CA

The majority of chronic back pain is associated with degeneration of the intervertebral disc (IVD), which can manifest itself in many different clinical conditions. The factors that lead to disc degeneration and its pathophysiology are still not completely understood. IVD is avascular; nutrition is supplied via diffusion mechanism from the capillary beds of the cartilaginous vertebral body endplates. Disruption in subchondral bone/endplate perfusion has long been suspected as a factor in pathogenesis of IVD degeneration. In the presented study we used dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCEMRI) to investigate the endplate perfusion and its association with spinal disc degeneration.