title: Use of T1ρMR imaging in Sjögren's syndrome with normal appearing parotid glands: Initial findings.
abstract: To explore the feasibility of parotid spin-lattice relaxation time in the rotating frame (T1ρ) MR imaging in the diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome (SS) without morphological changes of the parotid glands.
  
  
  
  The study enrolled 32 consecutive SS patients without morphological changes of parotid glands and 32 age- and gender-matched healthy volunteers who underwent parotid 3.0 Tesla MR imaging, including T1ρ sequences. Follow-up imaging was performed at 3 months. T1 signal intensities and T1ρ values of bilateral parotid glands were compared using paired samples t-test. Parotid T1 signal intensities and T1ρ values were compared using two independent samples t-test. Diagnostic performance of the parotid T1ρ values was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic analysis. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was calculated to evaluate the reproducibility of parotid T1ρ measurements.
  
  
  
  There were no significant differences of T1 signal intensities and T1ρ values between bilateral parotid glands in SS patients and healthy volunteers (P = 0.170, 0.886 and 0.942, 0.229). The parotid T1ρ values of SS patients (96.47 ± 15.38 ms) were significantly higher than those of healthy volunteers (84.25 ± 6.11 ms) (P < 0.001), while there were no significant differences of T1 signal intensities between SS patients and healthy volunteers (P = 0.655). With a cutoff value of 88.02 ms, the sensitivity and specificity of the parotid T1ρ value was 75.0% and 100.0% in the diagnosis of SS. The reproducibility of parotid T1ρ measurement was excellent (ICC: 0.934-0.995).
  
  
  
  Parotid T1ρ MR imaging held a potential role in diagnosing SS without morphological changes of parotid glands.
  
  
  
  2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017;45:1005-1012.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Huayong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dou
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Weibo
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Philips Healthcare, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Queenie
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Lingyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital, The Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing, China.
authors.forename: Zhengyang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010306:Parotid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012859:Sjogren's Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Sjögren's syndrome; T1ρ MR imaging; morphological changes; parotid glands; signal changes