To outline the artefacts that may be encountered on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine and to be able to recognise, potentially resolve the artefacts, or use them to one’s advantage when reviewing an MRI of the spine.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the spine is increasingly used for indications such as back pain, radiculopathy, claudication, inflammatory arthropathy, trauma and cancer staging. However, interpretation can be complicated by the presence of artefacts, which are observations made in the MR image which are not present in the original imaged subject. These can occur as a result of MRI hardware, scanning parameters or patient factors [1]. Not only can this negatively affect the quality of the images, it can also be confused with pathology [1]....

TYPES OF ARTEFACTS: Chemical shift phenomenon; artefacts due to intrinsic signal of imaged structures The chemical shift phenomenon is also known as “misregistration” or “mismapping”. It occurs due to the slower resonating frequency of protons in fat compared to water which results in an artefactual shift in signal intensity along the fat-water interfaces [2]. This is more prominent with at higher magnetic field strength and narrower bandwidth [3]. In spinal MRI, this can be seen as alternating bright and dark outlines at the sides of...

Understanding the different types of MRI artefacts encountered in spinal imaging is important in recognising the limitations of the study and avoiding the potential pitfalls posed by imaging artefacts.

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