TY - JOUR
T1 - Diagnostic value of water-fat-separated images and CT-like susceptibility-weighted images extracted from a single ultrashort echo time sequence for the evaluation of vertebral fractures and degenerative changes of the spine
AU - Feuerriegel, Georg C.
AU - Kronthaler, Sophia
AU - Boehm, Christof
AU - Renz, Martin
AU - Leonhardt, Yannik
AU - Gassert, Florian
AU - Foreman, Sarah C.
AU - Weiss, Kilian
AU - Wurm, Markus
AU - Liebig, Thomas
AU - Makowski, Marcus R.
AU - Schwaiger, Benedikt J.
AU - Karampinos, Dimitrios C.
AU - Gersing, Alexandra S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Objectives: To evaluate the performance of single-echo Dixon water-fat imaging and computed tomography (CT)–like imaging based on a single ultrashort echo time (sUTE) MR sequence for imaging of vertebral fractures as well as degenerative bone changes of the spine in comparison to conventional CT and MR sequences. Methods: Thirty patients with suspected acute vertebral fractures were examined using a 3-T MRI, including an sUTE sequence as well as short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) and T1-weighted sequences. During postprocessing, water-fat separation was performed by solving the smoothness-constrained inverse water-fat problem based on a single-complex UTE image. By removing the unwanted low-frequency phase terms, additional MR-based susceptibility-weighted-like (SW-like) images with CT-like contrast were created. Two radiologists evaluated semi-quantitative and quantitative features of fractures and degenerative changes independently and separately on CT and MR images. Results: In total, all 58 fractures were accurately detected of whom 24 were correctly classified as acute fractures with an edema detected on the water-fat-separated UTE images, using STIR and T1w sequences as standard of reference. For the morphological assessment of fractures and degenerative changes, the overall agreement between SW-like images and CT was substantial to excellent (e.g., Genant: κ 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.54–1.00); AO/Magerl: κ 0.75 (95% confidence interval 0.43–1.00)). Overall inter-reader agreement for water-fat-separated UTE images and SW-like images was substantial to almost perfect. Conclusion: Detection and assessment of vertebral fractures and degenerative bone changes of the spine were feasible and accurate using water-fat-separated images as well as SW-like images, both derived from the same sUTE-Dixon sequence. Key Points: • The detection of acute vertebral fractures was feasible using water-fat-separated images and CT-like images reconstructed from one sUTE sequence. • Assessment of the vertebral fractures using SW-like images with CT-like contrast was found to be comparable to conventional CT. • sUTE imaging of the spine can help reduce examination times and radiation exposure.
AB - Objectives: To evaluate the performance of single-echo Dixon water-fat imaging and computed tomography (CT)–like imaging based on a single ultrashort echo time (sUTE) MR sequence for imaging of vertebral fractures as well as degenerative bone changes of the spine in comparison to conventional CT and MR sequences. Methods: Thirty patients with suspected acute vertebral fractures were examined using a 3-T MRI, including an sUTE sequence as well as short-tau inversion recovery (STIR) and T1-weighted sequences. During postprocessing, water-fat separation was performed by solving the smoothness-constrained inverse water-fat problem based on a single-complex UTE image. By removing the unwanted low-frequency phase terms, additional MR-based susceptibility-weighted-like (SW-like) images with CT-like contrast were created. Two radiologists evaluated semi-quantitative and quantitative features of fractures and degenerative changes independently and separately on CT and MR images. Results: In total, all 58 fractures were accurately detected of whom 24 were correctly classified as acute fractures with an edema detected on the water-fat-separated UTE images, using STIR and T1w sequences as standard of reference. For the morphological assessment of fractures and degenerative changes, the overall agreement between SW-like images and CT was substantial to excellent (e.g., Genant: κ 0.90 (95% confidence interval 0.54–1.00); AO/Magerl: κ 0.75 (95% confidence interval 0.43–1.00)). Overall inter-reader agreement for water-fat-separated UTE images and SW-like images was substantial to almost perfect. Conclusion: Detection and assessment of vertebral fractures and degenerative bone changes of the spine were feasible and accurate using water-fat-separated images as well as SW-like images, both derived from the same sUTE-Dixon sequence. Key Points: • The detection of acute vertebral fractures was feasible using water-fat-separated images and CT-like images reconstructed from one sUTE sequence. • Assessment of the vertebral fractures using SW-like images with CT-like contrast was found to be comparable to conventional CT. • sUTE imaging of the spine can help reduce examination times and radiation exposure.
KW - Bone marrow edema
KW - Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
KW - Ultrashort echo time (UTE) imaging
KW - Vertebral fractures
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85136310910
U2 - 10.1007/s00330-022-09061-2
DO - 10.1007/s00330-022-09061-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 35980430
AN - SCOPUS:85136310910
SN - 0938-7994
VL - 33
SP - 1445
EP - 1455
JO - European Radiology
JF - European Radiology
IS - 2
ER -