Abstract
Background Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) at the cervicothoracic junction of spine is clinically relevant, however, little attention had been paid. T2 mapping and magnetic transfer ratio (MTR) are useful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to quantitatively evaluate IDD, revealing the biochemical changes within the intervertebral disc. To compare T2 mapping with MTR imaging regarding their accuracy to quantitatively diagnose intervertebral disc degeneration at the cervicothoracic junction, influences of anatomical level, gender, age, and Pfirrmann grade of T2 relaxation time values and MTR values were evaluated. Methods Sixty-seven patients with neck and upper back pain were included and examined with both T2 mapping and MTR imaging. The Pfirrmann grade, T2 relaxation time values, and MTR value of each disc between C7 and T3 were measured. Differences were investigated among different segmental levels, genders, age ranges, and Pfirrmann grades. The diagnostic accuracy of both MRI techniques was compared using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results No significant difference was detected comparing T2 relaxation time values or MTR values among different anatomical levels, genders, and segmental levels. And we generally found that T2 relaxation time values decreased, while MTR value increased with increasing age. Importantly, we demonstrated the significant correlation between either T2 relaxation time values or MTR value and Pfirrmann grade. Conclusion We proved the better accuracy of T2 mapping over MTR imaging to quantitatively evaluate the intervertebral disc degeneration of the cervicothoracic junction.
Highlights
The neck pain and upper back pain, attributed to intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) of the cervical spine, are common complaints in outpatient department
We demonstrated that the T2 relaxation time values negatively correlate to the disc degeneration, while magnetic transfer ratio (MTR) values positively correlate to the Pfirrmann grades at this region
Agreeing with the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, the statistical significance was detected in the comparison between each two adjunct Pfirrmann grades (P < 0.05, oneway analysis of variance (ANOVA)), while such a statistically significant difference could not be observed for the MTR values between grades II and III and between grades III and IV (Figure 4(b)) (P > 0.05)
Summary
Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) at the cervicothoracic junction of spine is clinically relevant, little attention had been paid. T2 mapping and magnetic transfer ratio (MTR) are useful magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to quantitatively evaluate IDD, revealing the biochemical changes within the intervertebral disc. To compare T2 mapping with MTR imaging regarding their accuracy to quantitatively diagnose intervertebral disc degeneration at the cervicothoracic junction, influences of anatomical level, gender, age, and Pfirrmann grade of T2 relaxation time values and MTR values were evaluated. The Pfirrmann grade, T2 relaxation time values, and MTR value of each disc between C7 and T3 were measured. No significant difference was detected comparing T2 relaxation time values or MTR values among different anatomical levels, genders, and segmental levels. We proved the better accuracy of T2 mapping over MTR imaging to quantitatively evaluate the intervertebral disc degeneration of the cervicothoracic junction
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