Abstract #3214

Parametric T2 and T2* Mapping Techniques to Visualize Intervertebral Discs in Patients with Low Back Pain - Initial Results on the Clinical Use with 3.0 Tesla MRI

Goetz Hannes Welsch^1,2, David Stelzeneder¹, Friedrich Frank Hennig², Klaus Friedrich¹, Georg Scheurecker¹, Tatjana Paternostro-Sluga³, Siegfried Trattnig¹, Tallal Charles Mamisch⁴

¹MR Center, Department of Radiology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; ²Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, University Hospital of Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany; ³Department of Physical Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; ⁴Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

Quantitative T2 provides information about the interaction of water molecules and the collagen-network within the intervertebral disc(IVD). T2*-mapping may theoretically provide comparable information of the IVD ultrastructure but with the additional benefit of three-dimensional-acquisition capability together with high signal and high spatial resolution in a short scan-time. Aim of the study was to compare and correlate T2- and T2*-relaxation in patients suffering from low back pain. Using T2 as well as T2*-relaxation mapping, all grades of IVD degeneration can be quantified and distinguished. Besides the established T2 methodology, T2* provides a fast and stable tool in the evaluation of IVDs.