title: Measurement of vertebral bone marrow proton density fat fraction in children using quantitative water-fat MRI.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the feasibility of employing a 3D time-interleaved multi-echo gradient-echo (TIMGRE) sequence to measure the proton density fat fraction (PDFF) in the vertebral bone marrow (VBM) of children and to examine cross-sectional changes with age and intra-individual variations from the lumbar to the cervical region in the first two decades of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  Quantitative water-fat imaging of the spine was performed in 93 patients (49 girls; 44 boys; age median 4.5 years; range 0.1-17.6 years). For data acquisition, a six-echo 3D TIMGRE sequence was used with phase correction and complex-based water-fat separation. Additionally, single-voxel MR spectroscopy (MRS) was performed in the L4 vertebrae of 37 patients. VBM was manually segmented in the midsagittal slice of each vertebra. Univariable and multivariable linear regression models were calculated between averaged lumbar, thoracic and cervical bone marrow PDFF and age with adjustments for sex, height, weight, and body mass index percentile.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Measured VBM PDFF correlated strongly between imaging and MRS (R2= 0.92, slope = 0.94, intercept = -0.72%). Lumbar, thoracic and cervical VBM PDFF correlated significantly (all p < 0.001) with the natural logarithm of age. Differences between female and male patients were not significant (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VBM development in children showed a sex-independent cross-sectional increase of PDFF correlating with the natural logarithm of age and an intra-individual decrease of PDFF from the lumbar to the cervical region in all age groups. The present results demonstrate the feasibility of using a 3D TIMGRE sequence for PDFF assessment in VBM of children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, München, Germany. stefan.ruschke@tum.de.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9658-6541
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ruschke
authors.affiliation: Radiology, Phoenix Children's Hospital, 1919 E Thomas Rd, Phoenix, 85016, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Amber
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pokorney
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, München, Germany.|Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, München, Germany.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.affiliation: Philips Research Laboratory, Röntgenstraße 24-26, 22335, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Eggers
authors.affiliation: Radiology, Phoenix Children's Hospital, 1919 E Thomas Rd, Phoenix, 85016, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Radiology, Phoenix Children's Hospital, 1919 E Thomas Rd, Phoenix, 85016, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Houchun H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Klinikum rechts der Isar, Technical University of Munich, Ismaninger Straße 22, 81675, München, Germany.
authors.forename: Dimitrios C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Karampinos
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D007223:Infant; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D013131:Spine / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: Bone marrow; Chemical shift-encoding based imaging; Child; Magnetic resonance imaging; Proton density fat fraction; Water–fat imaging