Test-Retest Reliability of the Brain Metabolites GABA and Glx With JPRESS, PRESS, and MEGA-PRESS MRS Sequences in vivo at 3T.
Journal article

Test-Retest Reliability of the Brain Metabolites GABA and Glx With JPRESS, PRESS, and MEGA-PRESS MRS Sequences in vivo at 3T.

  • Baeshen A Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Wyss PO Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Henning A Institute for Biomedical Engineering, University and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • O'Gorman RL MR Centre, Children's University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Piccirelli M Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Kollias S Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Michels L Department of Neuroradiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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  • 2019-11-01
Published in:
  • Journal of magnetic resonance imaging : JMRI. - 2020
English BACKGROUND
The optimization of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) sequences allows improved diagnosis and prognosis of neurological and psychological disorders. Thus, to assess the test-retest and intersequence reliability of such MRS sequences in quantifying metabolite concentrations is of clinical relevance.


PURPOSE
To evaluate the test-retest and intersequence reliability of three MRS sequences to estimate GABA and Glx = Glutamine+Glutamate concentrations in the human brain.


STUDY TYPE
Prospective.


SUBJECTS
Eighteen healthy participants were scanned twice (range: 1 day to 1 week between the two sessions) with identical protocols.


FIELD STRENGTH/SEQUENCE
3T using a 32-channel SENSE head coil in the PCC region; PRESS, JPRESS, and MEGA-PRESS sequences.


ASSESSMENT
Metabolite concentrations were estimated using LCModel (for PRESS and MEGA-PRESS) and ProFit2 (for JPRESS).


STATISTICAL TESTS
The test-retest reliability was evaluated by Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, Pearson's r correlation coefficients, intraclass-correlation coefficients (ICC), coefficients of variation (CV), and by Bland-Altman (BA) plots. The intersequence reliability was assessed with Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, Pearson's r correlation coefficients, and BA plots.


RESULTS
For GABA, only the MEGA-PRESS sequence showed a moderate test-retest correlation (r = 0.54, ICC = 0.5, CV = 8.8%) and the BA plots indicated good agreement (P > 0.05) for all sequences. JPRESS provided less precise results and PRESS was insensitive to GABA. For Glx, the r and ICC values for PRESS (r = 0.87, ICC = 0.9, CV = 2.9%) and MEGA-PRESS (r = 0.70, ICC = 0.7, CV = 5.3%) reflect higher correlations, compared with JPRESS (r = 0.39, ICC = 0.4, CV = 20.1%).


DATA CONCLUSION
MEGA-PRESS and JPRESS are suitable for the reliable detection of GABA, the first being more precise. The three sequences included in the study can measure Glx concentrations.


LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 1 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;51:1181-1191.
Language
  • English
Open access status
closed
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/41860
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