Evaluation of carotid artery wall volume measurement using novel semiautomated analysis software

✍ Scribed by Anitha Varghese; Robert D. Merrifield; Lindsey A. Crowe; Steven A. Collins; Niall G.J. Keenan; David N. Firmin; Guang Zhong Yang; Dudley J. Pennell

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 532 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-1807
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20798

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate semiautomated analysis software for measuring the total carotid arterial wall volume (TWV) as a measure of atheroma burden.

Materials and Methods

Semiautomated‐software and manual analyses of TWV measured by cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) were compared in two phantom models, 10 subjects with no known carotid artery disease, and eight subjects with known carotid disease. The subjects were scanned twice for reproducibility.

Results

In subjects with no known carotid disease, semiautomated analysis of 98% of slices showed an improved interstudy coefficient of variation (COV) compared to manual analysis of 50% of slices (4.0% vs. 6.2%, P = 0.02). The proportion of matched cross‐sectional slices usable for TWV measurement was superior (99% vs. 49%, P = 0.005) and the median analysis time was shorter (31 minutes vs. 90 minutes, P < 0.001) using the semiautomated software. In subjects with known carotid disease, semiautomated (99% of slices) and manual (56% of slices) analyses had comparable interstudy COVs (4.1% vs. 3.9%, P = 0.01). However, the proportion of matched cross‐sectional slices usable for TWV measurement was greater using semiautomated contouring (96% vs. 56%, P = 0.01).

Conclusion

Carotid CMR measurement of TWV using novel semiautomated analysis software shows good reproducibility, enables greater coverage of arterial vessel wall length, and is considerably faster compared to manual contouring. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.