RESUMEN

Objective To evaluate the potential clinical value of T2 mapping and mDixon Quant in the diagnosis of early interver-tebral disc degeneration.Methods A total of 79 volunteers who underwent lumbar MRI examination were enrolled.All subjects were examined for 3.0T MR with T2WI,T2 mapping,and mDixon Quant while recording the condition of low back pain.The differ-ences between T2 mapping(map)value and fat fraction(FF)values of the vertebral(V)and nucleus pulposus(NP)within the Pfir-rmann Ⅰ and Pfirrmann Ⅱ intervertebral disc(grade Ⅰ 76,grade Ⅱ 87)were statistically analyzed.Receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analyses were performed for meaningful parameters.Results V-FF showed a mild positive correlation with degenera-tive intervertebral disc lesions,and NP-FF and NP-map values showed a mild negative correlation with lesions.There were statistically significant differences between the two groups in V-FF(P＜0.001),NP-FF(P=0.005),and NP-map(P＜0.001).Some measure-ments had statistically significant differences when different intervertebral disc segments were compared.Conclusion V-FF,NP-FF,and NP-map are associated with intervertebral disc degeneration.T2 mapping and mDixon Quant are potentially valuable as diagnostic tools to quantitatively assess early intervertebral disc degeneration and help diagnose.