Proton density fat fraction MRI of vertebral bone marrow: Accuracy, repeatability, and reproducibility among readers, field strengths, and imaging platforms.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Chemical shift-encoding based water-fat MRI is an emerging method to noninvasively assess proton density fat fraction (PDFF), a promising quantitative imaging biomarker for estimating tissue fat concentration. However, in vivo validation of PDFF is still lacking for bone marrow applications. PURPOSE: To determine the accuracy and precision of MRI-determined vertebral bone marrow PDFF among different readers and across different field strengths and imager manufacturers. STUDY TYPE Repeatability/reproducibility. SUBJECTS: Twenty-four adult volunteers underwent lumbar spine MRI with one 1.5T and two different 3.0T MR scanners from two vendors on the same day. FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE 1.5T and 3.0T/3D spoiled-gradient echo multipoint Dixon sequences. ASSESSMENT Two independent readers measured intravertebral PDFF for the three most central slices of the L1-5 vertebral bodies. Single-voxel MR spectroscopy (MRS)-determined PDFF served as the reference standard for PDFF estimation. STATISTICAL TESTS Accuracy and bias were assessed by Pearson correlation, linear regression analysis, and Bland-Altman plots. Repeatability and reproducibility were evaluated by Wilcoxon signed rank test, Friedman test, and coefficients of variation. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to validate intra- and interreader as well as intraimager agreements. RESULTS: MRI-based PDFF estimates of lumbar bone marrow were highly correlated (r2 = 0.899) and accurate (mean bias, -0.6%) against the MRS-determined PDFF reference standard. PDFF showed high linearity (r2 = 0.972-0.978) and small mean bias (0.6-1.5%) with 95% limits of agreement within ±3.4% across field strengths, imaging platforms, and readers. Repeatability and reproducibility of PDFF were high, with the mean overall coefficient of variation being 0.86% and 2.77%, respectively. The overall intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.986 as a measure for an excellent interreader agreement. DATA CONCLUSION: MRI-based quantification of vertebral bone marrow PDFF is highly accurate, repeatable, and reproducible among readers, field strengths, and MRI platforms, indicating its robustness as a quantitative imaging biomarker for multicentric studies. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3 Technical Efficacy Stage 2 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2019;501762-1772.