Quantitative magnetic resonance studies of lumbar vertebral marrow in patients with refractory or relapsed Hodgkin's disease.

Lumbar vertebral (LV) bone marrow proton relaxation times were measured from midline sagittal magnetic resonance images of the lumbar spine of 20 patients with refractory or relapsed Hodgkin's disease (HD) referred for autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT) and 18 aged-matched normal volunteers. Two patients with positive bone marrow biopsies had markedly elevated mean LV marrow T1 and T1 variation. Elevated mean LV marrow T1 or T1 variation, consistent with bone marrow involvement with HD, was also seen in four other patients with negative bilateral posterior iliac crest bone marrow biopsies. Four patients with abnormal quantitative MR studies were examined serially following treatment. Mean LV marrow T1 and T1 variation normalised post ABMT, consistent with a good response to treatment. Quantitative MR studies of LV marrow may improve the detection of bone marrow involvement with lymphoma and be a complementary examination to bone marrow biopsy. Serial studies allow an objective and non-invasive assessment of treatment response.