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Abstract Details
Normative vertebral deformity measurements in a clinically relevant population using magnetic resonance imaging.
Sorci, Olivia R (OR);Madi, Rashad (R);Kim, Sun Min (SM);Batzdorf, Alexandra S (AS);Alecxih, Austin (A);Hornyak, Julia N (JN);Patel, Sheenali (S);Rajapakse, Chamith S (CS);
BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is the leading cause of vertebral fractures. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and radiographs are traditionally used to detect osteoporosis and vertebral fractures/deformities. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be utilized to detect the relative severity of vertebral deformities using three-dimensional information not available in traditional DXA and lateral two-dimensional radiography imaging techniques.
AIM: To generate normative vertebral parameters in women using MRI and DXA scans, determine the correlations between MRI-calculated vertebral deformities and age, DXA T-scores, and DXA Z-scores, and compare MRI vertebral deformity values with radiography values previously published in the literature.
METHODS: This study is a retrospective vertebral morphometric analysis conducted at our institution. The patient sample included MR images from 1638 female patients who underwent both MR and DXA imaging between 2005 and 2014. Biconcavity, wedge, crush, anterior height (H)/posterior height (Hp), and middle height (H)/posterior height values were calculated from the MR images of the patient's vertebrae. Associations between vertebral deformity values, patient age, and DXA T-scores were analyzed using Spearman correlation. The MRI-derived measurements were compared with radiograph-based calculations from population-based data compiled from multiple studies.
RESULTS: Age was positively correlated with lumbar H/H ( = 0.04) and thoracic wedge ( = 0.03) and biconcavity ( = 0.001) and negatively correlated with thoracic H/H ( = 0.002) and H/H ( = 0.001) values. DXA T-scores correlated positively with lumbar H/H ( < 0.0001) and negatively with lumbar wedge ( = 0.046), biconcavity ( < 0.0001), and H/H ( = 0.046) values. Qualitative analysis revealed that H/H differed between MRI and radiography population-based data by no more than 0.3 and H/H by a maximum of 1.2.
CONCLUSION: Compared with traditional imaging techniques, MRI detects vertebral deformities with high accuracy and reliability. It may be a sensitive, ionizing, radiation-free tool for use in clinical settings.