Author(s)

S. J. Gandy, S. A. Waugh, R. S. Nicholas, H. J. Simpson, W. Milne, J. G. Houston

ISBN

1053-1807

Publication year

2008

Periodical

Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Periodical Number

2

Volume

28

Pages

359-365

Author Address

Gandy, SJ Ninewells Hosp, Natl Hlth Serv, Dept Med Phys, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland Ninewells Hosp, Natl Hlth Serv, Dept Med Phys, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland Ninewells Hosp, Natl Hlth Serv, Dept Clin Radiol, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland Univ Dundee, Sch Med, Natl Hlth Serv, Tayside Inst Cardiovasc Res, Dundee, Scotland

Full version

Purpose: To derive reproducibility assessments of ejection fraction (EF) and left ventricular mass (LVM) from shortaxis 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 intraand 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 timepoints, 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, LUM is notably susceptible to interobserver variation, and this should be carefully considered if similar evaluations are planned as part of multicenter or longitudinal investigations.