Background: There has been controversy surrounding the relationship between diffusivity and age in vertebral bone marrow. In particular, gender-related factors that influence the vertebral bone marrow conditions have not yet been identified.
Purpose: To determine the age- and gender-related diffusivity changes of the lumbar bone marrow by measuring the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values.
Material and methods: A total of 125 healthy adult volunteers were enrolled in this study. Sagittal magnetic resonance (MR) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of the lumbar spine was performed. The ADC values of vertebral bone marrow were measured and compared between gender and age groups. Correlation analysis was used to evaluate the correlation between the ADC values and age.
Results: The ADC values of the female participants were significantly higher than those of the male participants (P = 0.023). Among individuals aged less than 50 years, the ADC values of the female participants were significantly higher than those of the male participants (P < 0.001). The ADC values of the pre-menopausal female participants were significantly higher than post-menopausal female participants (P < 0.001). The ADC value was also significantly and negatively correlated with age (r = -0.334, P = 0.001), particularly among women (r = -0.581, P < 0.001).
Conclusion: Bone marrow ADC values of the lumbar spine demonstrated gender- and age-related differences. In particular, gender difference occurred among participants aged less than 50 years. These findings likely reflect changes in the cellular component of the lumbar bone marrow.
Keywords: Bone marrow; apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC); b factor; diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI); magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); spine.
© The Foundation Acta Radiologica 2016.