T2 relaxation time of bone marrow water and lipid: correlation with serum ferritin in normal individuals. Ishijima H, Ishizaka H, Aoki J, Inoue T, Endo K Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Gunma University Hospital, Japan. PURPOSE: This study investigated the correlation between the iron content of bone marrow and the transverse relaxation times (T2 values) of bone marrow water and lipid on MRI. METHOD: The T2 of the water and lipid fractions of bone marrow was selectively measured in the L1-3 vertebral bodies using the chemical shift misregistration effect on MRI. Results were compared to the serum ferritin levels in 27 healthy subjects. RESULTS: The 1/T2 of the water fraction ws strongly correlated with the serum ferritin, but there was no correlation between the 1/T2 of the lipid fraction and serum ferritin. CONCLUSION: Selective T2 measurement of the water fraction in bone marrow allows precise estimation of the marrow iron content. PMID: 9135666, UI: 97281358 |