Bone marrow cellularity: quantification by chemical-shift misregistration in magnetic resonance imaging and comparison with histomorphometrical techniques

The accuracy of a technique that uses chemical-shift misregistration in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging to quantify vertebral bone marrow cellularity was tested on cadaveric specimens. In order to estimate the cellularity of 11 unfixed vertebral bodies, mid-sagittal MR images were obtained using a 1.5 T magnet with a proton-density-weighted spin-echo sequence (repetition time/echo time, 2500/22 ms) and a narrow bandwidth. These values were subsequently compared to the histomorphometrical values for cellularity, amount of trabecular bone and deposited iron. The image-derived values for cellularity correlated well with values determined by histomorphometry regardless of the presence of trabecular bone and small amount of stored iron in the specimens. This simple technique may be applicable in the estimation of marrow cellularity. 10 refs., 1 tab., 1 fig