Abstract #3193

Evaluation of Lumbar Disc Degeneration Using Ultrashort Echo Time Magnetization Transfer (UTE-MT) Imaging in Cartilaginous Endplate

Jin Liu¹, Yajun Ma², Jianwei Liao¹, Xiaojun Chen¹, Wei Li¹, Lin Yao¹, Zhihai Su³, Long Qian⁴, Jiang Du², and Shaolin Li¹

¹Department of Radiology, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China, ²Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, CA, United States, ³Department of Orthopedics, The Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Zhuhai, China, ⁴MR Research, GE Healthcare, Guangzhou, China

Ultrashort echo time magnetization transfer (UTE-MT) sequence can quantify magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) values of short T2 tissues, which has potential to evaluate early disc degeneration. The current study aims to assess the feasibility of UTE-MT quantification of cartilaginous endplate for evaluation of early disc degeneration. In addition, the latent associations between the UTE-MTR and grade of disc degeneration, age, gender, the oswestry disability index (ODI) were evaluated, respectively. Our results demonstrated that the UTE-MT sequence is feasible to quantify cartilaginous endplate in lumbar spine. UTE-MTR may be a potentially useful biomarker in the assessment of early lumbar disc degeneration.

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