Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Study of Human Bone Marrows From Patients With Leu- kemia, Anemia, and Myeloma and From Normal Donors 1

ABSTRACT-The spin·lattice relaxation time T1 and spin·spin relaxation time T 2 of water protons in bone marrow were studied in preparations from normal volunteers (5 controls) and from patients with aplastic anemia (5 cases), chronic myelocytic leukemia (3 cases), acute myelocytic leukemia (5 cases), acute lymphocytic leukemia (1 case), and myeloma (1 case). The following results were obtained: a) The average value for T1 of water protons in normal marrow cells was 1.09 seconds and that for leukemia was 0.924 second (0.02<P <0.30). b) The average values for T 2 of water protons were 0.051 second with normal marrow cells and 0.035 second (P <0.001) with leukemic marrow cells. c) T 2 values in marrow cells were decreased with the increase of nucleated cells in marrow (correlation coefficient,- 0.8255).-J Natl Cancer Inst 59: 335-337, 1977. The NMR technique has been used in the medical field as a method for discriminating between neoplastic and non