Value of arterial spin label technique in 3.0 T MR scanner on evaluating blood flow of thyroid glands in healthy adults
10.3760/cma.j.cn112149-20190715-00604
- VernacularTitle:3.0 T MR动脉自旋标记灌注技术评价正常成年人甲状腺血流灌注的价值
- Author:
Wenming DENG
1
;
Miaoru ZHANG
;
Bo HUANG
;
Jiahui XIAO
;
Zhou LIU
;
Qian YANG
;
Dehong LUO
Author Information
1. 国家癌症中心 国家肿瘤临床医学研究中心 中国医学科学院北京协和医学院肿瘤医院深圳医院放射科 518116
- From:
Chinese Journal of Radiology
2020;54(9):886-890
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective:To investigate the feasibility and reproducibility of using three-dimensional arterial spin labeling (3D-ASL) technique to evaluate the thyroid blood flow (TBF) in healthy adults and compare the difference in TBF between subjects with different gender and age.Methods:In this prospective study, 100 healthy adult subjects were enrolled from November 2018 to June 2019 in Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Cancer Hospital, Shenzhen Hospital. All subjects received thyroid 3D-ASL MRI scanning, but several subjects were excluded from analysis for reasons including intolerance to examination ( n=1), overt artifacts ( n=11), abnormality detected in thyroid gland during conventional MRI ( n=15), resulting in 73 subjects included. Two attending radiologists independently evaluated the quality of ASL images and measured the TBF in upper, middle and lower poles of each lobe in thyroid gland bilaterally. Cohen’s Kappa was used to test the agreement in image quality between 2 radiologists, while intraclass correlation (ICC) analysis was implemented to evaluate the consistency in TBF measurements. Univariate variance analysis was used to compare the TBF in upper, middle and lower pole of thyroid gland unilaterally, and student t-test was performed to test the difference in TBF between two lobes, or in the same lobe but between different gender or age groups. Results:For image quality, 2 radiologists have good agreement (Kappa=0.753, P<0.001). In terms of TBF, consistency was moderate in the lower pole of left lobe between 2 radiologists (ICC=0.648, P<0.001), but good in the remaining parts of thyroid gland (all ICC>0.75, P<0.001). Unilaterally, TBF in the middle pole was significantly higher than those in the upper or lower pole ( P<0.001), but no significant difference was found between the upper and lower pole ( P>0.05). Regardless of upper, middle or lower pole, TBF in the right lobe was higher than the counterpart in the left lobe ( t=6.182, 6.294, 4.896, P<0.001). Between male subjects ( n=31) and female subjects ( n=42), no significant difference was found in the corresponding upper, middle or lower pole of thyroid lobe unilaterally ( P>0.05). As for age group, TBF in the middle pole of thyroid gland was higher in the middle age group (45-59 years old, n=12) than that in the young adult group (18-44 years old, n=61) ( t=3.868, P=0.003 for the left lobe, and t=2.647, P=0.022 for the right lobe), but no significant difference was found in the upper or lower pole of the unilateral thyroid lobe ( P>0.05). Conclusion:ASL can accurately measure blood flow perfusion in the thyroid gland with good reproducibility.
