Vertebral endplate bone marrow lesion composition: relation to Modic change classification and associations with chronic low back pain - PubMed
4 hours ago
- #Chronic Low Back Pain
- #Quantitative MRI
- #Modic Changes
- A quantitative imaging biomarker from water-fat MRI measuring bone marrow composition in Modic changes (MC) was developed.
- Hypo-fatty involvement in MC-affected endplates was significantly associated with worse pain and disability, independent of conventional MC type classification.
- Conventional MC type classification showed no association with patient-reported outcomes, highlighting the biomarker's superior clinical relevance.
- Longitudinal changes in marrow composition often occurred without corresponding changes in MC type, indicating the biomarker's sensitivity to dynamic pathoanatomic variations.
- The findings suggest that water-fat MRI biomarkers could enhance patient stratification for treatments targeting vertebrogenic pain.