Reliability of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft signal intensity measurement on MRI: a novel method with intra- and interrater analysis over a 1-week interval.
Averaging signal measurements across five regions gives good interrater agreement for anterior cruciate ligament grafts.
Reliability of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) graft signal intensity measurement on MRI: a novel method with intra- and interrater analysis over a 1-week interval.
To determine the intra- and interrater reliability of the anterior cruciate ligament (anterior cruciate ligament) graft signal-to-noise quotient (signal-to-noise quotient) assessed on magnetic resonance imaging (magnetic resonance imaging) using a standardized coronal-oblique plane and region-of-interest (region-of-interest) measurement protocol.
Twelve adults following anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction underwent magnetic resonance imaging graft assessment.
averaging regions boosts reader agreement into the good range
Intrarater intraclass correlation coefficients for individual ROIs ranged from 0.67 to 0.90, with the highest reliability at R2 (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.90; 95% CI: 0.70-0.97) and the lowest at R5 (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.67; 95% CI: 0.20-0.89).
Corresponding SEM values ranged from 0.31 to 1.01 and smallest detectable difference from 0.87 to 2.79.
Interrater intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.52 to 0.83, again highest at R2 (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.83; 95% CI: 0.65-0.92) and lowest at R5 (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.15-0.76).
The proposed magnetic resonance imaging-based signal-to-noise quotient protocol demonstrates excellent intrarater and good interrater reliability over a 1-week interval.
region-of-interest averaging meaningfully enhances reproducibility and provides actionable smallest detectable difference thresholds for detecting anterior cruciate ligament graft signal change.