• A Baur, A Huber, H R Dürr, K Nikolaou, A Stäbler, M Deimling, and M Reiser.
• Institut für Klinische Radiologie, Klinikum der Ludwig-Maximilians, Universität, München, Germany. Andrea.Baur@ikra.med.uni-muenchen.de
• Rofo. 2002 Jan 1; 174 (1): 70-5.

PurposeTo evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of a diffusion-weighted, steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence for the differentiation of acute benign osteoporotic and neoplastic vertebral compression fractures.Methods85 patients with 102 vertebral compression fractures were examined with MR imaging using a spine array surface coil (Siemens, Vision, 1.5 Tesla). The following sequences were performed in sagittal orientation: T1-weighted spin echo (SE), short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) and a diffusion-weighted SSFP sequence (TR = 25 msec, diffusion pulse length delta = 3 msec). The SSFP images were evaluated qualitatively on a 5-grade scale from strongly hypointense to strongly hyperintense. Quantitative analysis was performed with region of interest measurements (ROI) and calculation of a bone marrow ratio.Results60 fractures were due to osteoporosis and 42 fractures were caused by malignancy. "Hyperintensity" in a vertebral fracture on a SSFP sequence provided a sensitivity of 100 % and a specificity of 93 %. The positive predictive value was 91 %, the negative predictive value was 100 %. Quantitative analysis of the bone marrow ratio showed a statistically significant difference between the osteoporosis and the tumor group (p < 0.001). The mean value for the osteoporotic fractures was - 0.32 (SD 0.33) and + 2.07 (SD 1.37) for the tumor group.ConclusionThe SSFP sequence provides a high accuracy in the differentiation of benign osteoporotic and neoplastic vertebral compression fractures.

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