Regional variation in paraspinal muscle composition using chemical shift encoding-based water-fat MRI

Background Variations in paraspinal muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) and composition, particularly of the multifidus muscle, have been of interest with respect to risk of, and recovery from, low back pain problems. Several investigators have reported on the reliability of such muscle measurements using various protocols and image analysis programs. However, there is no standard protocol for tissue segmentation, nor has there been an investigation of reliability or agreement of measurements using different software. Objective The purpose of this study was to provide a detailed muscle measurement protocol and determine the reliability and agreement of associated paraspinal muscle composition measurements obtained with 2 commonly used image analysis programs: OsiriX and ImageJ. Design This was a measurement reliability study. Methods Lumbar magnetic resonance images of 30 individuals were randomly selected from a cohort of patients with various low back conditions. Muscle CSA and composition measurements were acquired from axial T2-weighted magnetic resonance images of the multifidus muscle, the erector spinae muscle, and the 2 muscles combined at L4–L5 and S1 for each participant. All measurements were repeated twice using each software program, at least 5 days apart. The assessor was blinded to all earlier measurements. Results The intrarater reliability and standard error of measurement (SEM) were comparable for most measurements obtained using OsiriX or ImageJ, with reliability coefficients (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs]) varying between .77 and .99 for OsiriX and .78 and .99 for ImageJ. There was similarly excellent agreement between muscle composition measurements using the 2 software applications (inter-software ICCs=.81–.99). Limitations The high degree of inter-software measurement reliability may not generalize to protocols using other commercial or custom-made software. Conclusion The proposed method to investigate paraspinal muscle CSA, composition, and side-to-side asymmetry was highly reliable, with excellent agreement between the 2 software programs.

Download Full-text

Automated assessment of paraspinal muscle fat composition based on the segmentation of chemical shift encoding-based water/fat-separated images

European Radiology Experimental ◽

10.1186/s41747-018-0065-2 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Thomas Baum ◽

Cristian Lorenz ◽

Christian Buerger ◽

Friedemann Freitag ◽

Michael Dieckmeyer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Shift ◽

Paraspinal Muscle ◽

Automated Assessment ◽

Fat Composition

Download Full-text

Age- and gender-related variations of cervical muscle composition using chemical shift encoding-based water-fat MRI

European Journal of Radiology ◽

10.1016/j.ejrad.2020.108904 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 125 ◽

pp. 108904

Author(s):

Egon Burian ◽

Daniela Franz ◽

Tobias Greve ◽

Michael Dieckmeyer ◽

Christina Holzapfel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Shift ◽

Age And Gender ◽

Muscle Composition ◽

Cervical Muscle ◽

And Gender

Download Full-text

Texture Features of Proton Density Fat Fraction Maps from Chemical Shift Encoding-Based MRI Predict Paraspinal Muscle Strength

Diagnostics ◽

10.3390/diagnostics11020239 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 239

Author(s):

Michael Dieckmeyer ◽

Stephanie Inhuber ◽

Sarah Schlaeger ◽

Dominik Weidlich ◽

Muthu Rama Krishnan Mookiah ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Shift ◽

Muscle Strength ◽

Texture Features ◽

Paraspinal Muscle ◽

Tissue Structure ◽

Proton Density ◽

Paraspinal Muscles ◽

Proton Density Fat Fraction ◽

Fat Fraction ◽

Flexion Strength

Texture analysis (TA) has shown promise as a surrogate marker for tissue structure, based on conventional and quantitative MRI sequences. Chemical-shift-encoding-based MRI (CSE-MRI)-derived proton density fat fraction (PDFF) of paraspinal muscles has been associated with various medical conditions including lumbar back pain (LBP) and neuromuscular diseases (NMD). Its application has been shown to improve the prediction of paraspinal muscle strength beyond muscle volume. Since mean PDFF values do not fully reflect muscle tissue structure, the purpose of our study was to investigate PDFF-based TA of paraspinal muscles as a predictor of muscle strength, as compared to mean PDFF. We performed 3T-MRI of the lumbar spine in 26 healthy subjects (age = 30 ± 6 years; 15 females) using a six-echo 3D spoiled gradient echo sequence for chemical-shift-encoding-based water–fat separation. Erector spinae (ES) and psoas (PS) muscles were segmented bilaterally from level L2–L5 to extract mean PDFF and texture features. Muscle flexion and extension strength was measured with an isokinetic dynamometer. Out of the eleven texture features extracted for each muscle, Kurtosis(global) of ES showed the highest significant correlation (r = 0.59, p = 0.001) with extension strength and Variance(global) of PS showed the highest significant correlation (r = 0.63, p = 0.001) with flexion strength. Using multivariate linear regression models, Kurtosis(global) of ES and BMI were identified as significant predictors of extension strength (R2adj = 0.42; p < 0.001), and Variance(global) and Skewness(global) of PS were identified as significant predictors of flexion strength (R2adj = 0.59; p = 0.001), while mean PDFF was not identified as a significant predictor. TA of CSE-MRI-based PDFF maps improves the prediction of paraspinal muscle strength beyond mean PDFF, potentially reflecting the ability to quantify the pattern of muscular fat infiltration. In the future, this may help to improve the pathophysiological understanding, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment evaluation of diseases with paraspinal muscle involvement, e.g., NMD and LBP.

Download Full-text

Kyphosis and paraspinal muscle composition in older men: a cross-sectional study for the osteoporotic fractures in men (MrOS) research group

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

10.1186/1471-2474-15-19 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Wendy B Katzman ◽

Dana Miller-Martinez ◽

Lynn M Marshall ◽

Nancy E Lane ◽

Deborah M Kado

Keyword(s):

Research Group ◽

Osteoporotic Fractures ◽

Older Men ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Paraspinal Muscle ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Muscle Composition

Download Full-text

Gender- and Age-Related Changes in Trunk Muscle Composition Using Chemical Shift Encoding-Based Water–Fat MRI

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu10121972 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

pp. 1972 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Egon Burian ◽

Jan Syväri ◽

Christina Holzapfel ◽

Theresa Drabsch ◽

Jan Kirschke ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Shift ◽

Abdominal Muscle ◽

Trunk Muscle ◽

Erector Spinae ◽

Trunk Muscles ◽

Imaging Biomarker ◽

Muscle Composition ◽

Age Related ◽

Gender And Age ◽

Age Related Changes

Ageing, sarcopenia, and malnutrition are associated with quantitative and qualitative changes of body composition. There are several imaging modalities, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), for the assessment of trunk muscle tissue composition. In this study, we investigated the gender- and age-related changes in trunk muscle composition using chemical shift encoding-based water–fat MRI. A total of 79 healthy volunteers (26 men: 38.9 ± 10.4 years; 53 women: 39.5 ± 15.0 years) underwent 3T axial MRI using a six-echo multi-echo 3D spoiled gradient echo sequence, allowing for the calculation of the proton density fat fraction (PDFF) in the trunk muscles. PDFF of the abdominal, psoas, and erector spinae muscles were determined. We detected significant positive correlations for abdominal muscle PDFF with age (r = 0.638, p = 0.0001) in men, and for abdominal muscle PDFF (r = 0.709, p = 0.0001) and erector spinae muscle PDFF (r = 0.674, p = 0.0001) with age in women. After adjustment for body mass index (BMI), only the correlation of age and abdominal muscle PDFF in women remained significant (r = 0.631, p = 0.0001). The findings of this study suggest that an increasing fat deposition in muscle is driven primarily by age, rather than BMI, in women. These results further support that PDFF can be considered a valid imaging biomarker of trunk muscle composition.

Download Full-text