title: Multiparameter characterisation of vertebral osteoporosis with 3-T MR.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was undertaken to evaluate the diagnostic capabilities of 3-Tesla (T) magnetic resonance (MR) in vertebral osteoporosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty subjects (ten healthy controls, ten with osteoporosis but no fracture, ten with osteoporotic vertebral fractures) underwent MR of the lumbar spine. Turbo spin echo (TSE) T1-, T2- and T2- spectral selection attenuated inversion recovery (SPAIR) weighted imaging and spectroscopy for the selective evaluation of water and fat content were performed. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was calculated, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was performed to create a map of the spatial arrangement of the tissue structures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Morphological imaging detected recent vertebral fractures. In osteoporotic patients, spectroscopic imaging demonstrated an increase in the saturated fats and a decrease in the ADC, whereas the data provided by DTI demonstrated a bone structure with medium-degree anisotropy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Osteoporosis is characterised by trabecular thinning, with an increase in the intertrabecular spaces, which are filled with fats. The anisotropic study and the subsequent assessment of colour and vector maps can provide a noninvasive tool for assessing the risk of fracture due to osteoporosis.
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata, Dipartimento di Diagnostica per Immagini e Radiologia Interventistica, Policlinico Universitario Tor Vergata, Viale Oxford 81, I-00133, Roma, Italy. ezio.fanucci@libero.it
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fanucci
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Manenti
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Masala
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Laviani
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Costanzo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ludovici
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cozzolino
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Floris
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Simonetti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D016103:Spinal Fractures / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*