| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4225374 | European Journal of Radiology | 2014 | 6 Pages |
The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic value of a 32-channel head coil for the characterization of mural inflammation patterns in the superficial cranial arteries in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA) compared to a standard 12-channel coil at 3 T MRI.55 patients with suspected GCA underwent high resolution T1-weighted post-contrast MRI at 3 T to detect inflammation related vessel wall enhancement using both coils. To account for different time delays between contrast agent injection and sequence acquisition, the patients were divided into two cohorts: 27 patients were examined with the 32-channel coil first and 28 patients with the 12-channel coil first. Images were evaluated by two blinded readers with regard to image quality, artifact level and arteries’ inflammation according to a standardized ranking scale; furthermore signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) measurements were performed at three locations.Identification of arteries’ inflammation was achieved with both coils with excellent inter-observer agreement (κ = 0.89 for 12-channel and κ = 0.96 for 32-channel coil). Regarding image grading, the inter-observer variability was moderate for the 12-channel (κ = 0.5) and substantial for the 32-channel coil (κ = 0.63). Significantly higher SNR and improved image quality (p < 0.01) were obtained with the 32-channel coil in either coil order.Image quality for depiction of the superficial cranial arteries was superior for the 32-channel coil. For standardized GCA diagnosis, the 12-channel coil was sufficient.
