title: Interplatform reproducibility of liver and spleen stiffness measured with MR elastography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess interplatform reproducibility of liver stiffness (LS) and spleen stiffness (SS) measured with magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) based on a 2D gradient echo (GRE) sequence.
  
  
  METHODS
  This prospective Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-compliant and Institutional Review Board (IRB)-approved study involved 12 subjects (five healthy volunteers and seven patients with liver disease). A multislice 2D-GRE-based MRE sequence was performed using two systems from different vendors (3.0T GE and 1.5T Siemens) on the same day. Two independent observers measured LS and SS on confidence maps. Bland-Altman analysis (with coefficient of reproducibility, CR), coefficient of variability (CV), and intraclass correlation (ICC) were used to analyze interplatform, intra- and interobserver variability. Human data were validated using a gelatin-based phantom.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was excellent reproducibility of phantom stiffness measurement (CV 4.4%). Mean LS values were 3.44-3.48 kPa and 3.62-3.63 kPa, and mean SS values were 7.54-7.91 kPa and 8.40-8.85 kPa at 3.0T and 1.5T for observers 1 and 2, respectively. The mean CVs between platforms were 9.2%-11.5% and 13.1%-14.4% for LS and SS, respectively, for observers 1 and 2. There was excellent interplatform reproducibility (ICC >0.88 and CR <36.2%) for both LS and SS, and excellent intra- and interobserver reproducibility (intraobserver: ICC >0.99, CV <2.1%, CR <6.6%; interobserver: ICC >0.97, CV and CR <16%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that 2D-GRE MRE provides platform- and observer-independent LS and SS measurements.
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Temel Kaya
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Yasar
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Mathilde
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Octavia
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bane
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Besa
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, New York University, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: James S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Babb
authors.affiliation: Siemens Medical Solutions, MR Applications Development, Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Stephan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kannengiesser
authors.affiliation: GE Healthcare, MR Applications & Workflow, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Maggie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Ehman
authors.affiliation: Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.|Department of Radiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Bachir
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Taouli
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D054459:Elasticity Imaging Techniques; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006975:Hypertension, Portal; D008099:Liver / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008107:Liver Diseases / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: interplatform MRE; liver stiffness; magnetic resonance elastography; spleen stiffness