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Study Design.

Cross-sectional study using T 1ρ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of lumbar spine in healthy young adults.

Objective.

To evaluate early intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) quantified by T 1ρ-and T2-weighted MRI in asymptomatic young adults and to correlate T 1ρ value with Pfirrmann degenerative grade, sex, and body mass index (BMI).

Summary of Background Data.

Intervertebral disc starts early to degenerate losing proteoglycan content in the nucleus pulposus (NP). A potential tool for the study of early stage of IDD is T 1ρ MRI. T 1ρ relaxation time of human discs has been correlated to proteoglycan content in previous studies.

Methods.

T 1ρ-and T2-weighted images of the lumbar spine were obtained for 63 asymptomatic young subjects (34 men and 29 women; mean age, 22.95±1.8 yr), with a 1.5-T MRI scanner. T 1ρ mapping and values in the NP and anulus fibrosus (n= 315) were obtained …