Monitoring of the effect of intervertebral disc nucleus pulposus ablation by MRI |
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| Authors: | Galit Saar Yoram Zilberman Hadassah Shinar Keren Keinan‐Adamsky Gadi Pelled Dan Gazit Gil Navon |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Chemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel;2. Skeletal Biotech Laboratory, Hebrew University ‐ Hadassah Medical Campus, Jerusalem, Israel;3. Department of Surgery, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA |
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| Abstract: | In order to investigate intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration and repair, a quantitative non‐invasive tool is needed. Various MRI methods including qCPMG, which yields dipolar echo relaxation time (TDE), magnetization transfer contrast (MTC), and 1H and 2H double quantum filtered (DQF) MRI were used in the present work to monitor changes in rat IVD after ablation of the nucleus pulposus (NP), serving as a model of severe IVD degeneration. In the intact IVD, a clear distinction between the annulus fibrosus (AF) and the NP is obtained on T2 and TDE weighted images as well as on MTC maps, reflecting the high concentration of ordered collagen fibers in the AF. After ablation of the NP, the distinction between the compartments is lost. T2 and TDE relaxation times are short throughout the disc and MTC is high. 1H and 2H DQF signal, which in intact discs is obtained only for the AF, is now observable throughout the tissue. These results indicate that after ablation, there is an ingression of collagen fibers from the AF into the area that was previously occupied by the NP, as was confirmed by histology. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | intervertebral disc MRI nucleus pulposus annulus fibrosus double quantum filtered MRI MTR maps |
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