Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Clivus and Its Age-Related Changes in the Bone Marrow

Background: The clivus is a bone region between dorsum cella and foramen magnum. It can be evaluated very clearly in routine brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) due to its central location. Objectives: Quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the clivus and its changes according to age in a group of healthy people. Patients and Methods: The transition of clival bone marrow to fatty marrow by the increase in age is examined by MRI in 105 men and 105 women who had no clival and bone marrow pathology on MRI. The clivus/pons, clivus/CSF intensity values and clival bone marrow imaging patterns according to age groups were prospectively evaluated using a 1.5 Tesla MR device. Results: When age groups were individually compared, there were meaningful statistical differences both in men and women in terms of clivus/CSF and clivus/pons intensity ratios (both Ps < 0.05). Clivus/pons and clivus/CSF intensity ratios were found to be increased with age in all cases. The distribution of age groups according to stages in all individuals was statistically meaningful (P < 0.05). When the appearance patterns of both genders in every ten-fold age were examined, stage III bone marrow was observed more in elder ages. Conclusions: As a result, besides the fact that standard ranges determined for clivus/CSF, clivus/pons intensity ratios according to age may be used in the assessment of potential pathological cases involving bone marrow; they can also be leading in the diagnosis of bone marrow diseases when taken into consideration together with clinical and laboratory data. Copyright (c) 2011, Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Iranian Society of Radiology. Published by Kowsar Corp. All rights reserved.