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Νormal Bone Marrow: Anatomy, Function, Conversion, and Reconversion

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Bone Marrow MRI

Abstract

Bone marrow is the organ responsible for blood cell production in humans. It is also the fourth largest organ of the body by weight, following bone, muscle, and fat [1]. It is estimated that, in humans, bone marrow accounts for approximately 4–5 % of the total body weight [2, 3]. Marrow is soft and pulpy and fills the osseous medullary cavities. The latter consist of multiple small spaces between trabeculae and larger cavities within the shafts of long bones. Although the evolutionary processes that led to confinement of hematopoiesis to the osseous medullary cavities are not yet fully understood, there is a rapidly evolving field of research examining the close association between skeletal and hematopoietic tissue (e.g., the role of endosteal osteoblasts in regulating the hematopoietic microenvironment through their interaction with hematopoietic stem cells) [4, 5].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1st Department of Radiology, University of Athens School of Medicine, Athens, Greece

    Lia Angela Moulopoulos (Professor of Radiology and Chair) & Vassilis Koutoulidis (Assistant Professor of Radiology)

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  1. Lia Angela Moulopoulos
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  2. Vassilis Koutoulidis
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Correspondence to Lia Angela Moulopoulos .

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Moulopoulos, L.A., Koutoulidis, V. (2015). Νormal Bone Marrow: Anatomy, Function, Conversion, and Reconversion. In: Bone Marrow MRI. Springer, Milano. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-5316-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-88-470-5316-8_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Milano

  • Print ISBN: 978-88-470-5315-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-88-470-5316-8

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