Year: 2019
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: , each investigator should establish a reference range. PURPOSE: To describe a statistically valid method for determining and reporting the reference range in each center, which simultaneously minimizes the twin risks of undersampling, leading to a uselessly uncertain range, and oversampling, which exposes volunteers to unnecessary scanning and wastes resources. STUDY TYPE: Cohort. POPULATION: In all, 278 normal human subjects without cardiac disease from two cardiac MR centers. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE: 1.5 T and 3 T; Modified Look-Locker Inversion recovery sequence. ASSESSMENT: relaxation time was estimated from multiple samples of tissue magnetization after inversion. A valid method for calculating a reference range was used. STATISTICAL TESTS: Shapiro-Wilk test for normality; Tukey robust approach for identification of outliers; reference range calculation with confidence intervals. RESULTS: were calculated, with confidence intervals, enabling comparison with clinically important differences. At 3 T: 1129 to 1301 msec at site 1 (n = 21) and 1160 to 1309 msec at site 2 (n = 59), and at 1.5 T at site 2: 933 to 1020 msec (male, n = 130) and 965 to 1054 msec (female, n = 68). The 3 T reference range from site 1 was successfully benchmarked against the 3 T reference range at site 2. DATA CONCLUSION: reference ranges can be properly characterized, enabling clinical comparison to a valid reference range with known confidence intervals, using methodology similar to that described in this report. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 3 Technical Efficacy Stage: 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;50:771-778.
DOI: 10.1002/jmri.26683
Language: English
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: University of Aberdeen
OpenAlex ID: W2911930111