Reproducibility of black blood dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in aortic plaques of atherosclerotic rabbits.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the short-term reproducibility of black-blood dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in atherosclerotic rabbits to evaluate the potential of this technique to be a reliable readout of plaque progression and/or regression upon therapeutic intervention.


METHODS
Atherosclerotic rabbits were imaged at baseline and 24 hours later with DCE-MRI on a 1.5T MRI system. DCE-MRI images were analyzed by calculating the area under the signal intensity versus time curve (AUC). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to evaluate interscan, intraobserver, and interobserver reproducibility. In addition, the test-retest coefficient of variation (CoV) was evaluated.


RESULTS
Statistical analyses showed excellent interscan, intraobserver, and interobserver agreement. All ICCs were greater than 0.75, P < 0.01 indicating excellent agreement between measurements.


CONCLUSIONS
Experimental results show good interscan and excellent intra- and interobserver reproducibility, suggesting that DCE-MRI could be used in preclinical settings as a read-out for novel therapeutic interventions for atherosclerosis. This preliminary work encourages investigating the reproducibility of DCE-MRI also in clinical settings, where it could be used for monitoring high-risk patients and in longitudinal clinical drug trials.
Calcagno
Claudia
C
Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Imaging Science Laboratories, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029, USA.
Vucic
Esad
E
Mani
Venkatesh
V
Goldschlager
Gregg
G
Fayad
Zahi A
ZA
D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000473:pathology*; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology; D019540:Area Under Curve; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D003287:Contrast Media; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D015588:Observer Variation; D011817:Rabbits; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
D003287:Contrast Media; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA