T1 and T2 Relaxation Time Histograms of Mandibular Bone Marrow: A Monomodal Distribution in Sickle Cell Disease

Joseph Liao¹, Nekou Nowrouzi¹, Elliott Elias¹, Hernan Jara¹, Osamu Sakai¹

Purpose: To characterize sickle-cell disease-related changes in the mandibular bone marrow using qMRI relaxometry. Materials and Methods: 13 SCD patients (19.8-43 years old) and 17 age-matched controls (23-64 years old) were imaged with the mixed turbo spin-echo pulse sequence. The mandible was manually segmented. T1 and T2 relaxation time histograms were created. Results: 15 of the 17 controls exhibited bimodal peaks in T1; all controls exhibited bimodal peaks in T2. In contrast, all SCD patients exhibited monomodal peaks in both T1 and T2 sequences. Conclusion: qMRI relaxometry reveals a monomodal histogram distribution in the bone marrow in SCD patients.