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Published on: October 13, 2023
Added Value of Parotid R2* Values for Evaluation of Sjögren Syndrome: A Preliminary Study
Chen Chu1, Nan Zhou, Huayong Zhang
1From the Departments of *Radiology and †Rheumatology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing; ‡Philips Healthcare, Shanghai; and §Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong, P.R. China.
Objective:
To explore the application of parotid R2* values for evaluating Sjögren syndrome (SS).
Methods:
Twenty-four consecutive SS patients and 24 sex-matched and age-matched healthy volunteers underwent bilateral parotid 3.0 T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, including blood oxygenation level dependent sequence. Parotid R2* values of SS patients and volunteers were compared. A receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to evaluate the diagnostic performance of parotid R2* value alone and in combination with MR nodular grade.
Results:
The left parotid R2* value was significantly lower than the right (P = 0.006) in SS patients. Parotid R2* value in SS patients was significantly lower than that in healthy volunteers (P < 0.001). With a cutoff value of 64.14/s, the sensitivity of the parotid R2* value was 62.5% in the diagnosis of SS. By combining R2* value with MR nodular grade, the sensitivity reached 87.5%.
Conclusions:
Parotid R2* value contributed to the diagnosis of Sjögren syndrome combined with MR nodular grade.
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