Magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of patients for percutaneous vertebroplasty.

Osteoporosis and osteoporotic compression fractures of the vertebral bodies are major health problems facing women and older people of both sexes. In the last several years, percutaneous vertebroplasty has been developed as a treatment for pain caused by vertebral body compression fractures and primary or metastatic neoplasms. A large part of the success of this procedure depends on correct patient selection. As such, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a vital role in this process. In this review, the clinical evaluation of patients considered for vertebroplasty, the role of MRI in the pretreatment process, the postvertebroplasty appearance of the spine on MRI, and the future applications, such as real-time guidance with MR imaging, will be discussed.