{"title":"Assessment of sacroiliitis using zero echo time magnetic resonance imaging: a comprehensive evaluation.","authors":"Yunus Emre Bayrak, Törehan Özer, Yonca Anik, Sibel Balci, Duygu Aydin, Nihal Şahin, Hafize Emine Sönmez","doi":"10.1007/s00247-025-06201-w","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA), a subset of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is characterized by frequent involvement of the sacroiliac (SI) joints.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of zero echo time (ZTE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in identifying structural lesions in patients with ERA. Conventional MRI pulse sequences often struggle to adequately visualize osseous and calcified tissues.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>All MRI examinations were conducted using a 1.5-T (T) scanner. The MRI protocol included standard sequences such as fat-suppressed axial T2-weighted, axial T1-weighted, coronal short tau inversion recovery (STIR), and axial T2-weighted sequences. In addition to conventional MRI, a ZTE sequence was employed. Low-dose computed tomography (CT) served as the reference standard and was performed using a 640-multislice CT device. Structural lesions, including erosions, sclerosis, and changes in joint space, were compared between imaging modalities.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 20 patients were included in the study (12 boys, 8 girls), with a median age at diagnosis of 14 years. ZTE-MRI demonstrated similar sensitivity to low-dose CT in detecting erosion (7 vs 8, P = 0.707). The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between low-dose CT and ZTE-MRI was 0.993 (P < 0.001), indicating excellent agreement. Moreover, ZTE-MRI showed strong agreement with low-dose CT in detecting sclerosis (ICC = 0.954, P < 0.001) and changes in joint space (ICC = 0.998, P < 0.001).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Zero echo time imaging shows promise in providing sacroiliac joint visualization comparable to low-dose CT scans, thereby improving the detection of subtle erosion and sclerosis in these joints.</p>","PeriodicalId":19755,"journal":{"name":"Pediatric Radiology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Pediatric Radiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00247-025-06201-w","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PEDIATRICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA), a subset of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), is characterized by frequent involvement of the sacroiliac (SI) joints.
Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of zero echo time (ZTE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in identifying structural lesions in patients with ERA. Conventional MRI pulse sequences often struggle to adequately visualize osseous and calcified tissues.
Materials and methods: All MRI examinations were conducted using a 1.5-T (T) scanner. The MRI protocol included standard sequences such as fat-suppressed axial T2-weighted, axial T1-weighted, coronal short tau inversion recovery (STIR), and axial T2-weighted sequences. In addition to conventional MRI, a ZTE sequence was employed. Low-dose computed tomography (CT) served as the reference standard and was performed using a 640-multislice CT device. Structural lesions, including erosions, sclerosis, and changes in joint space, were compared between imaging modalities.
Results: A total of 20 patients were included in the study (12 boys, 8 girls), with a median age at diagnosis of 14 years. ZTE-MRI demonstrated similar sensitivity to low-dose CT in detecting erosion (7 vs 8, P = 0.707). The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) between low-dose CT and ZTE-MRI was 0.993 (P < 0.001), indicating excellent agreement. Moreover, ZTE-MRI showed strong agreement with low-dose CT in detecting sclerosis (ICC = 0.954, P < 0.001) and changes in joint space (ICC = 0.998, P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Zero echo time imaging shows promise in providing sacroiliac joint visualization comparable to low-dose CT scans, thereby improving the detection of subtle erosion and sclerosis in these joints.
期刊介绍:
Official Journal of the European Society of Pediatric Radiology, the Society for Pediatric Radiology and the Asian and Oceanic Society for Pediatric Radiology
Pediatric Radiology informs its readers of new findings and progress in all areas of pediatric imaging and in related fields. This is achieved by a blend of original papers, complemented by reviews that set out the present state of knowledge in a particular area of the specialty or summarize specific topics in which discussion has led to clear conclusions. Advances in technology, methodology, apparatus and auxiliary equipment are presented, and modifications of standard techniques are described.
Manuscripts submitted for publication must contain a statement to the effect that all human studies have been reviewed by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in an appropriate version of the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki. It should also be stated clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study should be omitted.