Virtual non-calcium imaging to detect bone marrow edema in patients with arthritis: a feasibility study with MRI as standard of reference

IF 3.9 3区医学 Q1 RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING

European Journal of Radiology Pub Date : 2026-02-01 Epub Date: 2025-11-24 DOI:10.1016/j.ejrad.2025.112571

Laura Büttner , Torsten Diekhoff , Katharina Ziegeler , Jürgen Mews , Sarah Ohrndorf , Fabian Proft , Denis Poddubnyy , Sevtap Tugce Ulas

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the diagnostic performance of virtual non-calcium (VNCa) imaging derived from dual-energy CT (DECT) for the detection of bone marrow edema (BME) in patients with suspected hand arthritis using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as standard of reference.

Materials and methods

In this post-hoc analysis, 68 patients ((50 women) with a mean age of 55 (SD 13.1)) were included. All patients underwent DECT and MRI of the hand. VNCa images were reconstructed using three-material decomposition. Two radiologists scored the VNCa images and MRI datasets in consensus for BME. Specificity, sensitivity, and diagnostic accuracy of VNCa were calculated. The sum score was calculated by adding all region-based BME scores per patient, providing an aggregated measure for correlation with MRI findings.

Results

MRI was positive in 21 patients and VNCa in 15 patients. VNCa achieved a high specificity (96.7 %), moderate sensitivity (61.9 %), and an overall accuracy of 85.3 %. The sum score in VNCa was strongly correlated with MRI (r = 0.77; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

VNCa imaging showed excellent specificity, albeit only moderate sensitivity for detecting BME in patients with suspected hand arthritis. These results underscore the clinical utility of DECT for arthritis imaging, adding to known strengths such as sensitivity for structural damage and ease of acquisition.

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虚拟非钙成像检测关节炎患者骨髓水肿：以MRI为参考标准的可行性研究

目的评价双能CT （DECT）虚拟无钙（VNCa）成像以磁共振成像（MRI）为参比标准对疑似手关节炎患者骨髓水肿（BME）的诊断价值。材料和方法在这项事后分析中，纳入了68例患者（50例女性），平均年龄为55岁（SD 13.1）。所有患者均行手部DECT和MRI检查。采用三材料分解方法重建VNCa图像。两名放射科医生对VNCa图像和MRI数据集进行评分，一致认为BME。计算VNCa的特异性、敏感性和诊断准确性。总得分是通过将每个患者的所有基于区域的BME评分相加来计算的，提供了与MRI结果相关的汇总测量。结果smri阳性21例，VNCa阳性15例。VNCa具有高特异性（96.7%），中等敏感性（61.9%），总体准确率为85.3%。VNCa的总评分与MRI有很强的相关性（r = 0.77; p < 0.001）。结论vnca影像学对疑似手关节炎患者的BME检测具有良好的特异性，但仅为中等敏感性。这些结果强调了DECT在关节炎成像中的临床应用，增加了已知的优势，如对结构损伤的敏感性和易于获取。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

European Journal of Radiology 医学-核医学

CiteScore

6.70

自引率

3.00%

发文量

398

审稿时长

42 days

期刊介绍： European Journal of Radiology is an international journal which aims to communicate to its readers, state-of-the-art information on imaging developments in the form of high quality original research articles and timely reviews on current developments in the field. Its audience includes clinicians at all levels of training including radiology trainees, newly qualified imaging specialists and the experienced radiologist. Its aim is to inform efficient, appropriate and evidence-based imaging practice to the benefit of patients worldwide.