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Contrast Enhanced Vessel Imaging using MicroCT

Contrast Enhanced Vessel Imaging using MicroCT

Published on: January 27, 2011

Semi-quantitative evaluation of signal intensity and contrast-enhancement in Modic changes

Marta Tibiletti¹, Cristina Ciavarro², Vlasta Bari³

¹1Department of Internal Medicine II-Cardiology, Ulm University, Helmholtzstrasse 16, 89081 Ulm, Germany.

European Radiology Experimental

|May 1, 2018

Abstract

Background:

Semi-quantitative evaluation of Modic changes (MCs) has recently been proposed as a way to standardise and increase repeatability of clinical studies. This study is aimed at developing semi-quantitative measures of enhancement, given by contrast agent injection, on T1-weighted images in MCs, and to investigate their reliability and relation with MC types.

Methods:

Thirty-seven subjects suffering from low back pain underwent T1-weighted and T2-weighted turbo spin-echo sequences. Five minutes after the injection of a paramagnetic contrast agent, a second T1-weighted sequence was acquired. Regions of interest (ROIs) corresponding to MCs were selected manually on the unenhanced image; control ROIs in the "healthy" bone marrow were selected. For each ROI, the mean signal intensity (SI) of unenhanced pixels and the mean absolute and normalised difference in SI between unenhanced and contrast-enhanced pixels values were calculated.

Results:

A total of 103 MCs were recognised and 61 were semi-quantitatively analysed: 16 type I, 34 type II and 11 type I/II. Regarding controls, MCs I showed a lower SI on the unenhanced T1-weighted images and a marked contrast enhancement (CE); MCs II showed a higher SI than controls on unenhanced images and a lower or comparable CE; and MCs I/II presented an intermediate SI on the unenhanced images and a marked CE. Inter-rater and intra-rater agreements were found to be excellent or substantial.

Conclusions:

Semi-quantitative measurements could differentiate MC types in terms of unenhanced SI and of CE with respect to "healthy" bone marrow.

Keywords:

Contrast enhancement Gadolinium-based contrast agent Magnetic resonance imaging Modic changes Spine

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