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Compositional magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of the intervertebral disc: Axial vs sagittal T 2 mapping
Author(s) -
Raudner Marcus,
Schreiner Markus M.,
Weber Michael,
Juras Vladimir,
Stelzeneder David,
Windhager Reinhard,
Trattnig Siegfried
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of orthopaedic research®
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.041
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1554-527X
pISSN - 0736-0266
DOI - 10.1002/jor.24691
Subject(s) - sagittal plane , intraclass correlation , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , nuclear medicine , confidence interval , lumbar , region of interest , reproducibility , anatomy , radiology , mathematics , clinical psychology , psychometrics , statistics
The aim of this study was to assess T 2 values of the lumbar intervertebral discs in the axial and sagittal plane views and assess their respective interobserver reliability. The lumbar intervertebral discs of 23 symptomatic patients (11 female; 12 male; mean age, 44.1 ± 10.6; range, 24‐64 years) were examined at 3T. Region‐of‐interest (ROI) analysis was performed on axial and sagittal T 2 maps by two independent observers. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was assessed for every ROI. The interobserver agreement was excellent for the nucleus pulposus (NP) in the sagittal (0.951; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.926‐0.968) and axial (0.921; 95% CI, 0.845‐0.955) planes. The posterior 20% region showed a higher ICC in the axial vs the sagittal assessment (0.845; 95% CI, 0.704‐0.911 vs 0.819; 95% CI, 0.744‐0.873). The same was true for the posterior 10%, with the axial ROI showing a higher ICC (0.923; 95% CI, 0.865‐0.953 vs 0.628; 95% CI, 0.495‐0.732). The intraobserver agreement was excellent for every ROI except the sagittal 10% region, which showed good performance (0.869; 95% CI, 0.813‐0.909). The sagittal nucleus pulposus was the best‐performing ROI with regard to intra‐ and interobserver agreement in the T 2 assessment of the lumbar intervertebral disc. However, the axial NP showed more stable agreements overall and across the value range. In addition, the annular analysis showed better inter‐ and intraobserver agreement in the axial plane view. Clinical significance: Based on the presented analysis, we highly recommend that further studies use axial T 2 mapping due to the higher intra‐ and interreader agreement.