Usefulness of Fat Suppression Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Osteoporotic Vertebral Fractures in Preventing Subsequent Fractures After Kyphoplasty

Preoperative magnetic resonance imaging with fat suppression (FS-MRI) is useful to detect bone marrow edema in osteoporotic vertebral fractures (OVFs) and thus can improve diagnostic accuracy and influence surgical strategy for percutaneous augmentation. The role of preoperative FS-MRI in preventing subsequent fractures after balloon kyphoplasty has not been investigated in initially subclinical fractures or fractures without obvious morphologic changes. From January 2010 to December 2017, 214 consecutive patients underwent balloon kyphoplasty for painful OVFs. We defined 2 groups based on preoperative imaging (100 patients had preoperative FS-MRI and 114 patients had no MRI) and then compared baseline and surgical characteristics. The primary end point was incidence of subsequent fractures within 12 months after treatment. The 214 patients underwent kyphoplasty of 414 vertebrae. Comparing FS-MRI with no-MRI groups, spontaneous fractures occurred significantly more (58% vs. 26.3%; P < 0.001) and fractures were more often multilevel (≥ 4 levels) (15% vs. 2.6%; P = 0.001), respectively. Overall incidence of subsequent vertebral fractures was 25.7% (32% in FS-MRI, 20.2% in no-MRI groups; P = 0.048). Average time to diagnosis of subsequent fractures did not differ between the 2 groups (9.3 FS-MRI vs. 11.5 weeks no-MRI; P = 0.411). Age ≥80 years at the time of balloon kyphoplasty was associated with a higher odds ratio (2.3) for subsequent fractures within 12 months (P = 0.039). Surgical treatment according to preoperative FS-MRI did not reduce occurrence of subsequent OVFs and did not prolong fracture-free intervals within 12 months after kyphoplasty.