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Quantifying calcium changes in the fetal spine using quantitative susceptibility mapping as extracted from STAGE imaging

  • Musculoskeletal
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A Publisher Correction to this article was published on 15 November 2022

This article has been updated

Abstract

Objectives

To evaluate calcium deposition in the fetal spine in vivo during the second and third trimesters using quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM).

Methods

Fifty-four pregnant women in their second and third trimesters underwent a 2D multi-echo STrategically Acquired Gradient Echo (STAGE) MR imaging protocol at 3T covering the fetal spine. The first echo data was used for QSM processing. A linear regression model was used to assess the correlation between magnetic susceptibility and gestational age (GA). A paired sample t-test was used to compare the consistency of QSM measurements from each sequence.

Results

The magnetic susceptibility of the fetal spine decreased linearly with advancing GA, with a slope of −52.3 parts per billion (ppb)/week and a Pearson correlation coefficient (r) of 0.83 (p < 0.001). In 37 subjects for whom the STAGE local QSM data were available from both flip angles, the average magnetic susceptibility values were −1111 ± 278 ppb and −1081 ± 262 ppb for FA = 8° and FA = 40°, respectively. These means were not statistically different according to a paired sample t-test (p = 0.156).

Conclusions

QSM is a reliable technique for evaluating calcium deposition and bone mineral density of fetal vertebrae. Our results demonstrate an increase in fetal calcium levels as a function of GA. These measures might be able to provide reference values for calcium content in the fetal spine during the second and third trimesters.

Key Points

• Calcium deposition and mineralization in the fetal spine, evaluated by vertebral magnetic susceptibility, increased with advancing gestational age.

• Our results provide reference values for calcium content in the fetal spine during the second and third trimesters.

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Change history

Abbreviations

BMD:

Bone mineral density

FA:

Flip angle

GA:

Gestational age

GRE:

Gradient recalled echo

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

QSM:

Quantitative susceptibility mapping

ROI:

Region of interest

STAGE:

Strategically Acquired Gradient Echo

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the study subjects and their families for consenting to participate in this study. We also thank the radiography staff at the Shandong Provincial Hospital for their help in collecting imaging data. This research was supported, in part, by the Perinatology Research Branch, Division of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Division of Intramural Research, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (NICHD/NIH/DHHS); and, in part, with Federal funds from NICHD/NIH/DHHS under Contract No. HHSN275201300006C.

Funding

This work was supported by funds from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 81671668).

Author information

Author notes

  1. Cong Sun and Kiarash Ghassaban contributed equally to this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital, Shandong University, Jinan, China

    Cong Sun, Yufan Chen & Chao Zhang

  2. Department of Radiology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China

    Cong Sun

  3. Department of Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

    Kiarash Ghassaban & E. Mark Haacke

  4. SpinTech MRI Inc., Bingham Farms, MI, USA

    Kiarash Ghassaban & E. Mark Haacke

  5. Department of Ultrasound, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, China

    Jiaguang Song

  6. MR Collaboration, Siemens Healthineers Ltd., Shanghai, China

    Feifei Qu

  7. MR Collaboration, Siemens Healthineers Ltd., Beijing, China

    Jinxia Zhu

  8. Department of Radiology, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, 324, Jingwu Road, Jinan, 250021, Shandong, China

    Guangbin Wang

Authors
  1. Cong Sun
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Guangbin Wang or E. Mark Haacke.

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Guarantor

The scientific guarantor of this publication is Guangbin Wang.

Conflict of interest

The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.

Statistics and biometry

No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all subjects (patients) in this study.

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Institutional Review Board approval was obtained.

Methodology

• Prospective

• Observational study

• Performed at one institution

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The original online version of this article was revised: Affiliation 2 was incomplete in the original article and has been corrected to read 'Department of Radiology, Beijing Hospital, National Center of Gerontology, Institute of Geriatric Medicine, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.

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Sun, C., Ghassaban, K., Song, J. et al. Quantifying calcium changes in the fetal spine using quantitative susceptibility mapping as extracted from STAGE imaging. Eur Radiol 33, 606–614 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-022-09042-5

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