title: Reproducibility of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI in the study of brain gliomas: a comparison of data obtained using different commercial software.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI (DSC) and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE) are useful tools in the diagnosis and follow-up of brain gliomas; nevertheless, both techniques leave the open issue of data reproducibility. We evaluated the reproducibility of data obtained using two different commercial software for perfusion maps calculation and analysis, as one of the potential sources of variability can be the software itself.
  
  
  METHODS
  DSC and DCE analyses from 20 patients with gliomas were tested for both the intrasoftware (as intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility) and the intersoftware reproducibility, as well as the impact of different postprocessing choices [vascular input function (VIF) selection and deconvolution algorithms] on the quantification of perfusion biomarkers plasma volume (Vp), volume transfer constant (Ktrans) and rCBV. Data reproducibility was evaluated with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For all the biomarkers, the intra- and interobserver reproducibility resulted in almost perfect agreement in each software, whereas for the intersoftware reproducibility the value ranged from 0.311 to 0.577, suggesting fair to moderate agreement; Bland-Altman analysis showed high dispersion of data, thus confirming these findings. Comparisons of different VIF estimation methods for DCE biomarkers resulted in ICC of 0.636 for Ktransand 0.662 for Vp; comparison of two deconvolution algorithms in DSC resulted in an ICC of 0.999.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The use of single software ensures very good intraobserver and interobservers reproducibility. Caution should be taken when comparing data obtained using different software or different postprocessing within the same software, as reproducibility is not guaranteed anymore.
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit and CERMAC, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Mi, Italy.
authors.forename: Gian Marco
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Conte
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit and CERMAC, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Mi, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castellano
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit and CERMAC, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Mi, Italy.|Department of Medical Physics, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Mi, Italy.
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Altabella
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit and CERMAC, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Mi, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Iadanza
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit and CERMAC, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Mi, Italy.|Philips Healthcare, via Gaetano Casati 23, 20900, Monza, MB, Italy.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cadioli
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit and CERMAC, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Mi, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falini
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology Unit and CERMAC, San Raffaele Scientific Institute and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 60, 20132, Milan, Mi, Italy. anzalone.nicoletta@hsr.it.
authors.forename: Nicoletta
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4249-2723
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Anzalone
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003287:Contrast Media; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007090:Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012984:Software
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; C090600:gadobutrol
keywords: Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE); Dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI (DSC); Gliomas; Perfusion weighted MRI; Reproducibility of findings; Vascular input function (VIF)