Quantitative Diffusion and Fat Imaging of Vertebral Compression Fractures

B. A. Cannon, A. J. Kumar, C. Costelloe, P. LeRoux, J. Ma Imaging Physics, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States, Diagnostic Radiology, University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States, Applied Science Lab, GE Healthcare Technologies, Buc Cedex, France Introduction Correct determination of the nature of a vertebral compression fracture (VCF) can directly impact patient management. However, both metastases and benign processes (such as osteoporosis) can lead to VCFs. Preliminary studies indicate that diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) can help with VCF characterization [1]. Another method that has been found useful is fat/water in-phase (IP) and opposed-phase (OP) imaging [2,3]. In this research we measured, in the same imaging sessions, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and the relative fat content of VCFs in cancer patients. Our objective is to determine the value of the ADC and the relative fat content in characterizing the true etiology of VCFs.