title: Increasing spatial resolution of 3T MRI scanning improves reproducibility of carotid arterial wall dimension measurements.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To improve carotid 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) dimension measurements in patients with overt atherosclerotic carotid artery disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  In 31 patients with advanced atherosclerotic carotid artery disease, two high resolution (0.25 × 0.25 mm(2); HR) and two routinely used low resolution (0.50 × 0.50 mm(2); LR) carotid 3T MRI scans were performed within 1 month. After manual delineation of carotid wall contours in a dedicated image analyses program in eight slices covering the atherosclerotic plaque, image reproducibility, as well as the within-reader and between-reader variability were determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found significantly higher intraclass correlation coefficients for total wall volume, mean wall area and mean wall thickness for the HR measurements (all p < 0.05). We found a significant lower signal-to-noise and contrast-to-noise ratio for the HR compared to the LR measurements. The carotid arterial wall dimension measurements of all parameters were significantly lower for the HR compared to the LR measurements. No significant differences were observed between the within-reader and between-reader reproducibility for HR versus LR measurements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increasing the in-plane resolution improves the reproducibility of 3T MRI carotid arterial wall dimension measurements. The use of HR imaging will contribute to a reduced sample size needed in intervention trials using MRI scanning of the carotid artery as surrogate marker for atherosclerosis progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Room F4-159.2, PO Box 22660, 1100 DD, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, D.F.vanWijk@amc.uva.nl.
authors.forename: Diederik F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: van Wijk
authors.forename: Aart C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Strang
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duivenvoorden
authors.forename: Dirk-Jan F
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Enklaar
authors.forename: Rob J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: van der Geest
authors.forename: John J P
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kastelein
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Groot
authors.forename: Erik S G
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Stroes
authors.forename: Aart J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Nederveen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
references.citation: JAMA. 2009 Mar 18;301(11):1131-9
references.pmid: 19293413
references.citation: N Engl J Med. 2008 Apr 3;358(14):1431-43
references.pmid: 18376000
references.citation: Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2009 May;2(3):235-42
references.pmid: 19808598
references.citation: J Magn Reson Imaging. 2006 May;23(5):699-705
references.pmid: 16555260
references.citation: J Magn Reson Imaging. 2007 May;25(5):1035-43
references.pmid: 17457802
references.citation: Am Heart J. 2009 Apr;157(4):687.e1-8
references.pmid: 19332196
references.citation: Lancet. 2005 Oct 8;366(9493):1267-78
references.pmid: 16214597
references.citation: J Magn Reson Imaging. 2006 May;23(5):691-8
references.pmid: 16555259
references.citation: J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2009 Oct 27;11:41
references.pmid: 19860875
references.citation: Eur J Radiol. 2013 Apr;82(4):680-5
references.pmid: 23246333
references.citation: Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2009 Aug;25(6):581-9
references.pmid: 19459065
references.citation: J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009 Nov 3;54(19):1787-94
references.pmid: 19874992
references.citation: Phys Med Biol. 2008 Dec 7;53(23):6821-35
references.pmid: 19001690
references.citation: Lancet. 1995 Oct 21;346(8982):1085-7
references.pmid: 7564793
references.citation: J Magn Reson Imaging. 2010 Apr;31(4):935-41
references.pmid: 20373439
references.citation: Radiology. 2004 Mar;230(3):652-9
references.pmid: 14990831
references.citation: J Magn Reson Imaging. 2009 Nov;30(5):1209-14
references.pmid: 19780187
references.citation: J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2005;7(5):799-808
references.pmid: 16353440
references.citation: J Magn Reson Imaging. 2010 Jan;31(1):168-76
references.pmid: 20027584
references.citation: J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2003 Feb;14(2 Pt 1):227-31
references.pmid: 12582191
references.citation: Magn Reson Med. 2000 Dec;44(6):968-72
references.pmid: 11108636
references.citation: Atherosclerosis. 2009 Feb;202(2):589-95
references.pmid: 18599064