HYPERSIGNAL OF INTERVERTEBRAL DISKS IN T1 -WEIGHTED AND SPIN-ECHO MRISEQUENCES

In magnetic resonance imaging, when there is calcification of the inte rvertebral disk, signals usually become weaker in all the sequences. E xceptionally, a spontaneous hypersignal is obtained in T1 weighted spi n-echo sequences. We report 4 cases of spontaneous hypersignals from d isks in T1 weighted spin-echo sequences. In 3 cases, calcifications we re visualized with conventional radiology or computed tomography. In 1 case, there was no calcification of the disk, but its density, compar ed with adjacent disks, was 20 HU greater, suggesting inframacroscopic calcification.