eprintid: 1472451 rev_number: 22 eprint_status: archive userid: 608 dir: disk0/01/47/24/51 datestamp: 2015-11-11 14:58:35 lastmod: 2021-09-19 22:32:24 status_changed: 2015-11-11 14:58:35 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: Ugorji, CO creators_name: Samson, RS creators_name: Liechti, MD creators_name: Panicker, JN creators_name: Miller, DH creators_name: Wheeler-Kingshott, CA creators_name: Yiannakas, MC title: Grey and White Matter Magnetisation Transfer Ratio Measurements in the Lumbosacral Enlargement: A Pilot In Vivo Study at 3T ispublished: pub divisions: UCL divisions: B02 divisions: C07 divisions: D07 divisions: F85 divisions: F87 note: © 2015 Ugorji et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited abstract: Magnetisation transfer (MT) imaging of the central nervous system has provided further insight into the pathophysiology of neurological disease. However, the use of this method to study the lower spinal cord has been technically challenging, despite the important role of this region, not only for motor control of the lower limbs, but also for the neural control of lower urinary tract, sexual and bowel functions. In this study, the feasibility of obtaining reliable grey matter (GM) and white matter (WM) magnetisation transfer ratio (MTR) measurements within the lumbosacral enlargement (LSE) was investigated in ten healthy volunteers using a clinical 3T MRI system. The mean cross-sectional area of the LSE (LSE-CSA) and the mean GM area (LSE-GM-CSA) were first obtained by means of image segmentation and tissue-specific (i.e. WM and GM) MTR measurements within the LSE were subsequently obtained. The reproducibility of the segmentation method and MTR measurements was assessed from repeated measurements and their % coefficient of variation (%COV). Mean (± SD) LSE-CSA across 10 healthy subjects was 59.3 (± 8.4) mm2 and LSE-GM-CSA was 17.0 (± 3.1) mm2. The mean intra- and inter-rater % COV for measuring the LSE-CSA were 0.8% and 2.3%, respectively and for the LSE-GM-CSA were 3.8% and 5.4%, respectively. Mean (± SD) WM-MTR was 43.2 (± 4.4) and GM-MTR was 40.9 (± 4.3). The mean scan-rescan % COV for measuring WM-MTR was 4.6% and for GM-MTR was 3.8%. Using a paired t-test, a statistically significant difference was identified between WM-MTR and GM-MTR in the LSE (p<0.0001). This pilot study has shown that it is possible to obtain reliable tissue-specific MTR measurements within the LSE using a clinical MR system at 3T. The MTR acquisition and analysis protocol presented in this study can be used in future investigations of intrinsic spinal cord diseases that affect the LSE. date: 2015-07-31 date_type: published official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134495 oa_status: green full_text_type: pub pmcid: PMC4521783 language: eng primo: open primo_central: open_green article_type_text: Journal Article verified: verified_manual elements_id: 1045281 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0134495 pii: PONE-D-15-13788 language_elements: eng lyricists_name: Miller, David lyricists_name: Panicker, Jalesh lyricists_name: Samson, Rebecca lyricists_name: Wheeler-Kingshott, Claudia lyricists_name: Yiannakas, Marios lyricists_id: DHMIL08 lyricists_id: JPANI24 lyricists_id: RSSAM62 lyricists_id: CWHEE14 lyricists_id: MYIAN77 actors_name: Panicker, Jalesh actors_name: Gibson, Alice actors_id: JPANI24 actors_id: AGIBS47 actors_role: owner actors_role: impersonator full_text_status: public publication: PLoS One volume: 10 number: 7 article_number: e0134495 event_location: United States issn: 1932-6203 citation: Ugorji, CO; Samson, RS; Liechti, MD; Panicker, JN; Miller, DH; Wheeler-Kingshott, CA; Yiannakas, MC; (2015) Grey and White Matter Magnetisation Transfer Ratio Measurements in the Lumbosacral Enlargement: A Pilot In Vivo Study at 3T. PLoS One , 10 (7) , Article e0134495. 10.1371/journal.pone.0134495 <https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0134495>. Green open access document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1472451/1/Grey%20and%20White%20Matter%20Magnetisation%20Transfer%20Ratio%20Measurements%20in%20the%20Lumbosacral%20Enlargement%3A%20A%20Pilot%20In%20Vivo%20Study%20at%203T..pdf