• Yi-Xiang J Wang, Feng Zhao, James F Griffith, Greta S P Mok, Jason C S Leung, Anil T Ahuja, and Jing Yuan.
• Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China. yixiang_wang@cuhk.edu.hk
• Eur Radiol. 2013 Jan 1;23(1):228-34.

ObjectiveTo determine the relative performance of T1rho and T2 relaxation times in disc degeneration assessment.MethodsLumbar sagittal MRI was performed at 3 T in 52 subjects. With a spin-lock frequency of 500 Hz, T1rho was measured using a rotary echo spin-lock pulse embedded in a three-dimensional (3D) balanced fast field echo sequence. A multi-echo TSE sequence was used for T2 mapping. Regions of interest (ROIs) were drawn over the T1rho and T2 maps, including nucleus pulposus (NP) and annulus fibrosus (AF). Eight- and five-level disc degeneration semi-quantitative grading was performed.ResultsFor NP, T1rho and T2 decreased quadratically with disc degeneration grades and had no significant trend difference (P = 0.40). For AF, T1rho decreased linearly as the disc degenerated and had a slope of -3.02 and -4.56 for eight- and five-level gradings respectively; while the slopes for T2 values were -1.43 and -1.84 respectively, being significantly flatter than those of T1rho (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in T1rho and T2 values for both NP and AF among discs of grade 5/8 to 8/8 degeneration.ConclusionT1rho is better suited for evaluating AF in degenerated disc than T2. In NP, T1rho and T2 decrease in a similar pattern following disc degeneration.

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