A hyperintense intervertebral disc on T1-weighted spin-echo MR image, the “bright disc”, is described in a patient with a long-standing ankylosing spondylitis.
The high signal intensity was due to the fatty infiltration of the discal tissue, as was clearly demonstrated by the comparison of MR and CT scan of the lumbar spine, probably due to progressive endochondral ossification with subsequent bone marrow metaplasia in the ossified disc.
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