Microstructural differences between osteoporotic and osteoarthritic femoral cancellous bone: an in vitro magnetic resonance micro-imaging investigation

Recently has been highlighted that topological properties of trabecular microstructure and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue are important factors in determining bone strength and its resistance to fracture. Magnetic resonance (MR) techniques allow investigation of both trabecular networks and bone marrow providing precious information on the physiological and functional changes associated with osteoporosis. The aim of the present work was to show the ability of MR micro-imaging investigation to describe cancellous bone status as related to its trabecular bone density and quality. For this purpose we measured in vitro, at high magnetic field (9.4T), the MR parameter T-2(APP) of cancellous bone samples extracted from femoral head of osteoporotic and osteoarthritic women as classified by dual energy X ray absorptiometry bone mineral density. We assessed T-2(APP) associations with T-scores, Harris Hip score and age. Results show that T-2(APP) is able to discriminate between osteoarthritic and osteoporotic bone samples. Moreover, the micro-imaging T-2(APP) investigation has highlighted a different trabecular bone density in cancellous bone specimens of osteoarthritic patients only, which is higher in subchondral compared to metaphysis section of each sample.