Spinal bone marrow fat increases with age across all regions

In a retrospective study of 81,318 UK Biobank participants, researchers mapped bone marrow adipose tissue across the human spine. The cohort had a mean age of 54.8 years, and 51.8% were female. Using automated vertebral segmentation on Dixon MRI data, the authors quantified bone marrow fat fractions from the cervical spine to the sacrum. Vertebral fat followed a non-linear pattern: approximately 39% in cervical, 55% in thoracic, 45% in lumbar, and 70% in sacral regions. Marrow fat increased with age across all regions, rising per decade by 3.33% in cervical, 3.41% in thoracic, 2.95% in lumbar, and 3.83% in sacral vertebrae. Females showed higher fat fractions than males across every spinal region.