Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
MRI methods compared for spotting disc extrusion in dogs
By Housley, Daniel et al.·Published in Veterinary radiology & ultrasound : the official journal of the American College of Veterinary Radiology and the International Veterinary Radiology Association·2017·Dick White Referrals, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of T2-weighted versus short-tau inversion recovery sagittal sequences in the identification and localization of canine intervertebral disc extrusion with low-field magnetic resonance imaging.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with intervertebral disc extrusion (a condition where the discs in the spine bulge or rupture) underwent MRI scans using two different imaging techniques: T2-weighted and short-tau inversion recovery sequences. The study found that while both methods were effective, the short-tau inversion recovery scans were better at spotting cases that the T2-weighted scans missed. In fact, when both imaging techniques were used together, they provided even better results than either method alone. This suggests that using both types of scans can help veterinarians more accurately diagnose this spinal issue in dogs.
People also search for: dog back pain MRI · intervertebral disc extrusion in dogs · dog spinal injury treatment
Abstract
Sagittal T2-weighted sequences (T2-SAG) are the foundation of spinal protocols when screening for the presence of intervertebral disc extrusion. We often utilize sagittal short-tau inversion recovery sequences (STIR-SAG) as an adjunctive screening series, and experience suggests that this combined approach provides superior detection rates. We hypothesized that STIR-SAG would provide higher sensitivity than T2-SAG in the identification and localization of intervertebral disc extrusion. We further hypothesized that the parallel evaluation of paired T2-SAG and STIR-SAG series would provide a higher sensitivity than could be achieved with either independent sagittal series when viewed in isolation. This retrospective diagnostic accuracy study blindly reviewed T2-SAG and STIR-SAG sequences from dogs (n = 110) with surgically confirmed intervertebral disc extrusion. A consensus between two radiologists found no significant difference in sensitivity between T2-SAG and STIR-SAG during the identification of intervertebral disc extrusion (T2-SAG: 92.7%, STIR-SAG: 94.5%, P = 0.752). Nevertheless, STIR-SAG accurately identified intervertebral disc extrusion in 66.7% of cases where the evaluation of T2-SAG in isolation had provided a false negative diagnosis. Additionally, one radiologist found that the parallel evaluation of paired T2-SAG and STIR-SAG series provided a significantly higher sensitivity than T2-SAG in isolation, during the identification of intervertebral disc extrusion (T2-SAG: 78.2%, paired T2-SAG, and STIR-SAG: 90.9%, P = 0.017). A similar nonsignificant trend was observed when the consensus of both radiologists was taken into consideration (T2-SAG: 92.7%, paired T2-SAG, and STIR-SAG = 97.3%, P = 0.392). We therefore conclude that STIR-SAG is capable of identifying intervertebral disc extrusion that is inconspicuous in T2-SAG, and that STIR-SAG should be considered a useful adjunctive sequence during preliminary sagittal screening for intervertebral disc extrusion in low-field magnetic resonance.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28429414/