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Comparison of the reproducibility of quantitative cardiac left ventricular assessments in healthy volunteers using different MRI scanners: A multicenter simulation
Author(s) -
Gandy Stephen J.,
Waugh Shelley A.,
Nicholas R. Stephen,
Simpson Helen J.,
Milne Wendy,
Houston J. Graeme
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.21401
Subject(s) - reproducibility , repeatability , scanner , nuclear medicine , medicine , coefficient of variation , ejection fraction , biomedical engineering , computer science , mathematics , artificial intelligence , statistics , heart failure , cardiology
Abstract Purpose To derive reproducibility assessments of ejection fraction (EF) and left ventricular mass (LVM) from short‐axis cardiac MR images acquired at single and multiple time‐points on different 1.5T scanner models. Materials and Methods Images of 15 healthy volunteers were acquired twice using a Magnetom Avanto scanner (Siemens, Erlangen, Germany) and once using a Signa Excite scanner (General Electric, Milwaukee, WI, USA) over four months, and analyzed using ARGUS and MASS Analysis+ software, respectively. Two physicists independently segmented the myocardial borders in order to derive intra‐ and interobserver assessments of EF and LVM for single and multiple time‐points on the same and different scanners. Results For EF, the coefficient of repeatability (CoR) increased as different observers, multiple time‐points, and different scanners were introduced. The CoR ranged from 2.8% (intraobserver measurements, single time‐point, same scanner) to 10.0% (interobserver measurements, different time‐points, different scanners). For LVM, intraobserver CoR parameters were consistently smaller than interobserver values. The CoR ranged from 7.8 g (intraobserver measurements, single time‐point, same scanner) to 39.5 g (interobserver measurements, different time‐points, different scanners). Conclusion Reproducible EF data can be obtained at single or multiple time‐points using different scanners. However, LVM is notably susceptible to interobserver variation, and this should be carefully considered if similar evaluations are planned as part of multicenter or longitudinal investigations. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2008;28:359–365. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.