title: Magnetic resonance imaging and BMB score in the evaluation of bone involvement in Gaucher's disease patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate by magnetic resonance imaging changes in bone marrow of patients undergoing treatment for type I Gaucher's disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive, cross-sectional study of Gaucher's disease patients submitted to 3 T magnetic resonance imaging of femurs and lumbar spine. The images were blindly reviewed and the findings were classified according to the semiquantitative bone marrow burden (BMB) scoring system.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the seven evaluated patients (three men and four women) presented signs of bone marrow infiltration. Osteonecrosis of the femoral head was found in three patients, Erlenmeyer flask deformity in five, and no patient had vertebral body collapse. The mean BMB score was 11, ranging from 9 to 14.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Magnetic resonance imaging is currently the method of choice for assessing bone involvement in Gaucher's disease in adults due to its high sensitivity to detect both focal and diffuse bone marrow changes, and the BMB score is a simplified method for semiquantitative analysis, without depending on advanced sequences or sophisticated hardware, allowing for the classification of the disease extent and assisting in the treatment monitoring.
authors.affiliation: PhD, Associate Professor of Radiology, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Vitória, ES, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ricardo Andrade Fernandes
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: de Mello
authors.affiliation: Master, MD, Hematologist, Centro Capixaba de Oncologia (Cecon), Vitória, ES, Brazil.
authors.forename: Melissa Bozzi Nonato
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Mello
authors.affiliation: MD, Resident in Radiology, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Vitória, ES, Brazil.
authors.forename: Laís Bastos
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Pessanha
keywords: Gaucher’s disease; Hematologic diseases; Magnetic resonance imaging; Musculoskeletal system