Figure 3. Case 1: Male aged 29 years with -thalassaemia major. (a) Two dimensional Fourier transformation (2DFT) T₁ weighted (repetition time (TR)/echo time (TE)=500/8 ms), (b) T₂ weighted (TR/TE_eff=2500/91 ms), (c) Fat suppressed ultrashort echo time (FUTE) (TR/TE=500/0.08 ms) and (d) fat and long T₂ suppressed UTE (FLUTE) (TR/TE=500/0.08 ms) images. The bone marrow has a patchy low signal in (a). The vertebral bodies are expanded and the discs show loss of height and variable signal patterns with some high signal areas. The 2DFT T₂ weighted scan (b) shows low signal in the marrow with central high centrally in T12/L1 and the three lower discs.(c) shows a moderate signal from the vertebral bodies. There is a loss of disc height with very low signal in L4/L5 centrally and anteriorly in T12/L1, L1/L2 and L2/L3. Diffuse low signal is seen centrally in the discs and the vertebral bodies as T12/L1, L1/L2 and L2/L3. The FLUTE image (d) shows high signal bands parallel to the end-plates at all levels as well as more centrally in the discs at the highest levels.