Purpose: To determine if calcification in the intervertebral disk is associated with hyperintensity on T1-weighted spin-echo magnetic resonance (MR) images.
Materials and methods: Sagittal T1-weighted MR images that showed one or more hyperintense intervertebral disks and correlative computed tomographic (CT) scans, plain radiographs, or both, were obtained in 11 patients retrospectively and in 43 patients prospectively. Six patients underwent MR imaging with a fat-suppression technique. Histologic analysis of two disks was performed.
Results: Absence of calcification was associated with disks that were isointense relative to normal disks (P < .001), mild to moderate calcification was associated with hyperintense disks (P < .001 and P = .004 [two readers]), and both mild to moderate and marked calcifications were associated with hypointense disks (P < .001). Fat suppression resulted in a decrease in hyperintense signal in two patients.
Conclusion: The results indicate that hyperintensity is associated with calcification. In the absence of clinical findings that suggest other causes, hyperintense disks are suggestive of degenerative disk disease.