Modic type endplate changes represent a classification for vertebral body endplate MRI signal changes, first described in 1988 1. It is widely recognized by radiologists and clinicians and is a useful shorthand for reporting MRIs of the spine.
Recently Modic type 1 has received renewed attention due to the possibility of it representing low-grade indolent infection. It is thus discussed separately here.
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Modic type 1: represents bone marrow edema and inflammation
T1: low signal
T2: high signal
T1 C+ (Gd): enhancement
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Modic type 2: represents normal red haemopoietic bone marrow conversion into yellow fatty marrow as a result of marrow ischemia
T1: high signal
T2: iso to high signal
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Modic type 3: represents subchondral bony sclerosis
T1: low signal
T2: low signal
History and etymology
Michael T Modic (fl. 2024) is an American neuroradiologist at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, in the US, although almost the whole of his career prior to 2018 was spent at the Cleveland Clinic.
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