Reproducibility of measurements with a semi-automatic software package for the evaluation of rectal cancer

2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 586-594
Author(s):  
Lisa Hörberg ◽  
Daniel Roth ◽  
Peter Leander ◽  
Sven Månsson ◽  
Tobias Fält ◽  
...  

Background Staging of rectal cancer with MRI has major impact on treatment choice and may be of importance in new cancer management strategies such as “wait-and-see” policy. Purpose To assess the reproducibility of a software package recently developed at our department to measure volumes, apparent diffusion coefficient, and the skewness of apparent diffusion coefficient in lymph nodes and tumors in rectal cancer patients before and after chemoradiation treatment. Material and Methods This study included 20 consecutive patients with biopsy-verified rectal cancer, in whom MRI staging had been performed both before and after chemoradiation treatment. The diffusion-weighted images were transferred to the software. The volume, apparent diffusion coefficient, and skewness were determined for 93 lymph nodes and 40 tumors. The volumes were compared with manual measurements of the volume of the same lymph nodes and tumors. Results The agreement in semi-automatic measurements of lymph nodes was very good (ICC = 0.99), and in tumors good (ICC = 0.88). The agreement in manual measurements of lymph nodes was very good (ICC = 0.95) when all lymph nodes were included, but low (ICC = 0.52) if three outliers were excluded. Bland–Altman plots showed clear agreement between manual and semi-automatic measurements in the lymph nodes, but not in measurements of tumors. The values of apparent diffusion coefficient and skewness in tumors differed before and after treatment but did not differ in lymph nodes as a group. Conclusion The software package showed a high degree of reproducibility in measurements on lymph nodes but requires further development to improve the reproducibility of tumor measurements.

Author(s):  
Alexey Surov ◽  
Hans-Jonas Meyer ◽  
Maciej Pech ◽  
Maciej Powerski ◽  
Jasan Omari ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Our aim was to provide data regarding use of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) for distinguishing metastatic and non-metastatic lymph nodes (LN) in rectal cancer. Methods MEDLINE library, EMBASE, and SCOPUS database were screened for associations between DWI and metastatic and non-metastatic LN in rectal cancer up to February 2021. Overall, 9 studies were included into the analysis. Number, mean value, and standard deviation of DWI parameters including apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of metastatic and non-metastatic LN were extracted from the literature. The methodological quality of the studies was investigated according to the QUADAS-2 assessment. The meta-analysis was undertaken by using RevMan 5.3 software. DerSimonian, and Laird random-effects models with inverse-variance weights were used to account the heterogeneity between the studies. Mean DWI values including 95% confidence intervals were calculated for metastatic and non-metastatic LN. Results ADC values were reported for 1376 LN, 623 (45.3%) metastatic LN, and 754 (54.7%) non-metastatic LN. The calculated mean ADC value (× 10−3 mm2/s) of metastatic LN was 1.05, 95%CI (0.94, 1.15). The calculated mean ADC value of the non-metastatic LN was 1.17, 95%CI (1.01, 1.33). The calculated sensitivity and specificity were 0.81, 95%CI (0.74, 0.89) and 0.67, 95%CI (0.54, 0.79). Conclusion No reliable ADC threshold can be recommended for distinguishing of metastatic and non-metastatic LN in rectal cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 205846012094531
Author(s):  
Andreas P Sauter ◽  
Antonia Kössinger ◽  
Stefanie Beck ◽  
Dominik Deniffel ◽  
Hendrik Dapper ◽  
...  

Background Rectal cancer (RC) is a frequent malignancy for which magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most common and accurate imaging. Iodine concentration (IC) can be quantified with spectral dual-layer computed tomography CT (DL-CT), which could improve imaging of RC, especially for evaluation of response to radiochemotherapy (RCT). Purpose To compare a DL-CT system to MRI as the non-invasive imaging gold standard for imaging of RC to evaluate the possibility of a response evaluation with DL-CT. Material and Methods Eleven patients who received DL-CT as well as MRI before and after RCT of RC were retrospectively included into this study. For each examination, a region of interest (ROI) was placed within the tumor. For MRI, the mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) was assessed. For DL-CT, IC, z-effective, and Hounsfield Units (HU) were measured. IC, z-effective, and HU were normalized to the aorta. ADC was correlated to absolute and relative normalized IC, z-effective, and HU with Spearman’s ρ. Differences before and after treatment were tested with Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results HU, IC, and Z-effective values in DL-CT images decreased significantly after RCT ( P<0.01 for each comparison). The mean ADC increased significantly after RCT. Spearman’s ρ of the absolute IC difference and the absolute ADC (both before and after RCT) is high and significant (ρ = 0.73; P = 0.01), whereas the ρ-value for z-effective (ρ = 0.56) or HU (ρ = 0.45) to ADC was lower and non-significant. Conclusion Response evaluation of RC after RCT could be possible with DL-CT via the measurement of IC.


2021 ◽  
pp. 028418512110340
Author(s):  
Wu Yu ◽  
Lao Zheng ◽  
Zhang Shuo ◽  
Liu Xingtong ◽  
Jiang Mengda ◽  
...  

Background Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) is an autoimmune orbital disease characterized by edema of extraocular muscles (EOMs). Purpose To characterize the inflammation of EOMs in patients with TAO before and after radiation therapy using apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) and to analyze the correlation between ADC and clinical activity of TAO. Material and Methods The ADCs of superior rectus (SR), inferior rectus (IR), medial rectus (MR), and lateral rectus (LR) muscles were measured in 52 eyes of 26 patients with TAO before and three months after orbital radiation therapy. In addition, 38 eyes of 20 healthy volunteers were included. The clinical activity score (CAS) was evaluated. The ADC maps were reconstructed and measured on the coronal diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) sequence and calculated in mm2/s. Results The mean ADCs of EOMs before treatment were 1.42 ± 0.23 in SR, 1.37 ± 0.23 in IR, 1.41 ± 0.21 in MR, and 1.28 ± 0.25 in LR. The mean ADCs after treatment were 1.27 ± 0.18, 1.22 ± 0.26, 1.30 ± 0.22, and 1.15 ± 0.21, respectively. The ADCs were significantly decreased after treatment (all P < 0.001). The ADCs of patients with TAO were significantly higher than those of controls. There was a statistically significant correlation between the mean ADCs and the CAS in each patient with TAO both before and after treatment (before: r = 0.520; P < 0.001; after: r = 0.625; P < 0.001). Conclusion The ADC values of EOMs can be exploited as a quantitative indicator to evaluate the clinical activity and monitor the therapeutic responses of patients with TAO.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document